Tag Archives: romance

Book Review of The Lodestar of Ys, by Amy Rae Durreson

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The Lodestar of YsI picked up The Lodestar of Ys, by Amy Rae Durreson, at Amazon. At the time of posting it was still free.

Description from Goodreads:

Sjurd is convinced that Celyn of Ys is the most irritating man alive. It’s a good thing that Celyn is engaged to Sjurd’s brother, not him, because Sjurd loathes the brat, and it’s quite mutual. When an elopement and the threat of invasion force the two princes together, however, they have no choice but to marry and fake true love to keep their countries safe. Can warrior Sjurd and diplomat Celyn find any common ground?

Review:
I found this really quite marvelous. I adored all of the characters, from start to finish. However, I also found it quite spare, with large chunks of time skipped over. I felt cheated out of what happened in those years. Similarly, I would have liked some resolution on the I & H issue. But for the most part, I just enjoyed my time I spent with this novel.

There also happens to be a free side story called Emry’s Smile. It’s from the same world, but with different characters, and I thought it was absolutely lovely. Durreson has made my watch list.

Review of Pain Slut (The Subs Club #2), by J.A. Rock

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Pain slutI received a copy of Pain Slut, by J. A. Rock, from Netgalley. I reviewed book one of the series, Subs Club, late last year.

Description from Goodreads: Honestly, I’m ready to take a step back from the Subs Club. Making the kink world a safer place for subs is the sort of bandwagon I’d have boarded as an idealist in my early twenties, but now I’m a pragmatist in my late twenties. I prefer to focus on adopting and raising a child.

But unexpected factors inevitably derail my plans. Like Drix Seger—attractive and the first genuine sadist I’ve encountered. If I were not in the process of renouncing my masochistic ways and becoming the normal, responsible potential father the adoption agency wants to see, Drix and I might do well together.

But he has a foolish name and belongs to a cult of vampyres, and I am quitting kink. So why does Drix’s infatuation with blood and biting make me so hot I can’t think straight? And why, when he looks at me, does he seem to see something beyond a basket case with a stick up my ass?

Can I start a new phase in my life without leaving part of myself behind? Please send help.

—Miles

Review:
The writing is this book was as good as any I’ve read from Rock. It was well paced and had interesting characters and themes, but it was way past my comfort level. In fact, I’d say it probably hit my hard limit.

I just could not get down with slapping people in the face and punching them in the stomach during sex. I had way less problem with the knife play than that. (And that’s likely just me.) Then, during that last, climactic ménage scene I kept thinking, “Miles should probably just be dead by this point.” I really felt like Rock just threw everything they could think of into it and it eventually started to seem like a grocery list of tortures. (I thought most of the Scenes felt a little like this.)

I appreciated what Rock had to say on safety in BDSM communities, the interaction of different kinky sub-cultures, being more than your kink, and negotiating vanilla society and authority as a kinky person, but this was not a book I was ever comfortable reading. But for those who are more tolerant of extremes in their erotica this will probably be a real winner.

the gentleman next door

Book Review of The Gentlemen Next Door series, by Cecilia Gray

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I’m still working to clear all the novelettes from my To Be Read shelf, but this week I’ve opted for something a little different. Instead of focusing of those books within a certain page length range (I’m up to 60-69), I’m going to clear a whole novelette series away.

With that in mind I present you with Cecilia Gray‘s The Gentleman Next Door Series. I Picked these up from Amazon when they were free.

the gentleman next door

The Gentlemen Next Door, because sometimes a lady in need of love need look no further than next door.

A Delightful Arrangement (The Gentlemen Next Door, #1): I am not a huge regency romance fan and that should probably be taken into account, but I found this cute. Yes, Fran annoyed me by being so unaware of her own feelings and eventually in the requisite “I don’t know what this feeling in my body is” sex scene. (I basically just dislike that sort of sex scene in general.) And yes, even though I liked Philip, the whole story hinged on his not telling her how he feels, which is a little too close to the ‘misunderstand’ trope for my liking. You always knew exactly where this story was going and how it’d get there, but, if you like the sort of thing, it’s a cute read.

An Illicit Engagement (The Gentlemen Next Door, #2): I believe I liked this one more than the first. I think it and the characters weren’t quite as developed, but I preferred them and this story. This is also a clean read, no sex.

A Dangerous Expectation (The Gentlemen Next Door, #3): This was another cute addition to the series, but it had a bit too drastic a change of personality in the MC to bring about the happy ending. Clean read, writing was good, could do with a bit more editing.

 A Flirtatious Rendezvous (The Gentlemen Next Door, #4): This was my least favorite of the series. I didn’t at all feel the history the two MCs were supposed to have and his change of heart came out of nowhere, giving him no time to redeem himself in my eyes for being a jerk.Writing was fine and it’s another clean read.