Finally! Finally we’re fully in Project Watchtower for The Watch series, the second Necessary Evils spin-off series by the genius Onley James (the firFinally! Finally we’re fully in Project Watchtower for The Watch series, the second Necessary Evils spin-off series by the genius Onley James (the first spin-off series being Jericho’s Boys). We’re starting off with The Bone Collector, which considering that’s the notorious name one of the project’s instructors, Park, went by when he was still active in the field (and the second book is going to be called The Sin Eater, which was the field operative name of the head of the project), it seems that all the books in The Watch series are going to be titled after field operative names. I’m down.
I’m not going to go over the whole synopsis with you. That’s just blase. Let’s go over the tropes you know, and then I’ll go over what I found of interest that doesn’t come across in the blurb, shall we?
*Age-Gap Romance (oh yeah, it’s a good gap, too!) *Teacher/Student (this one’s a little loosely interpreted, since Park, one of our MMCs, doesn’t teach much in this book because Gift, our other MMC, isn’t one of the students learning his speciality)
Tropes that the blurb doesn’t mention:
*Older brother/younger brother dynamic (they aren’t brothers, but Park insists on Gift using the honorifics for those roles) *Daddy k!nk (Ohhhhhh yes. Our Park is a Daddy Dom and our Gift is his sweet baby boy (no ageplay)) *Semi-public k!nk, virginity k!nk, slight degradation k!nk, edging, impact play, filthy talk *Touch him and you die *Gift is manipulative, secretive, touch-starved, and needy *Park is a possessive mofo *Park is essentially Gift’s legal guardian and full-time bodyguard
Besides the extremely high heat rating of this book (it is super dooper freaking hot, you guys) and how well-written that spice is (good lord, Onley is trying to kill us all, ffs), it needs to be known this book is FUN. It’s hilarious. It’s like “Necessary Evils: High School Edition”. Imagine if the Mulvaneys, Jericho’s Boys, The Feelings Faction (IYKYK), and Elite Protection Services ALL went to the same boarding school. Some are there on merit via scholarship and some are there because they have connections. Some are there because they have both money and merit. There’s all genders, all walks of life, neurotypicals, neuroatypicals, geniuses, people of average intelligence…you get the picture. The point of the place is for the neuroatypicals to be matched with an emotional support human to keep them tethered to their humanity. It’s brilliant. It’s volatile. It’s going to either be wildly successful or they’re going to burn the world down. Either way, I’m going to have a wild-ass and fun time reading to see what they do while they screw each other into every available surface and torture the bad guys along the way.
Please be mindful of your own mental health before attempting to read this book and read the list of CW/TWs before you start. I don’t ever need them but you might. Take care of you....more
I’ve been so excited for this novella. You wouldn’t be my greedy, grabby hands! Pansexual camgirl? Genderfluid stalker? High spice, low plot? Dark romI’ve been so excited for this novella. You wouldn’t be my greedy, grabby hands! Pansexual camgirl? Genderfluid stalker? High spice, low plot? Dark romance? Oh yes, please and thank you to all of it!
This novella was a bit of a fun project for Dana Isaly, sprung forth from her brain when she saw the cover (Can you blame her? It’s a great cover!). Clara is a camgirl, just trying to get by on her own in Boston. She works in a coffee shop during the day and cams by night.
Io is a private investigator, of sorts. They’ve been hired by Clara’s father to find her. The guy’s sketchy though, so Io’s been taking their time to study Clara thoroughly to really make sure they’ve got the right girl. Yeah. That’s totally why they’ve been taking their sweet time and fobbing off the client with excuses as to why there are no answers yet. It’s not because Io’s obsessed.
As Io works to gain Clara’s trust online, her obsession grows into a sense of possession and a hard protective streak. Clara needs to learn some lessons.
This book isn’t meant to be anything but what’s advertised: an erotic thriller novella with low plot, high spice, gender fluid and pansexual representation, a camgirl, and a masked stalker. The spice is very nice, though it’s mostly solo until the back end of the story. When those couples scenes hit, though, BOY HOWDY was I here for it. Io and Clara were smokin’ hot together. Steam up the windows and burn up the sheets.
Terrific novella just in time for Halloween. Loved it.
I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
I thank the universe for sending the romance world Cora Rose. I honestly don’t remember what reading romances was like before her and I don’t think I I thank the universe for sending the romance world Cora Rose. I honestly don’t remember what reading romances was like before her and I don’t think I want to remember. What I do remember is that I wasn’t a huge rom com fan before her, but with one book she made me fall into instalove with her style, her characters, her charm, and the hilarious situations her characters somehow seem to end up in without it seeming completely cheesy. Let’s not forget her impeccable ability to embed her characters with dimension, depth, and a wealth of personality.
Exception is shorter than most Cora Rose novels simply because it’s part of a series in which all the novels are on the shorter side. They’re meant to be fast-burn and low-angst. But Cora wouldn’t be Cora if she didn’t do the book her way. It turned out magnificent.
Exception is hot, hot, hot! The spice is nice and plentiful, but not so plentiful that we don’t get plenty of plot and character development. The book is hilarious, full of marijuana-induced hijinks and a perverted kleptomaniac of a monkey. It’s also emotionally touching, with our opposites-attract main characters maybe not being as opposite as they think and coming together in the most auspicious of places.
It’s an excellent entry into the Unlucky 13 series and just a stellar rom com all on its own. I’m here for it.
I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All thoughts, opinions, ideas, and views expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
Come for the spice, stay for the spice. Because there’s a whole lot of spice. I mean it. If you’re looking for a book with a lot of plot and depth theCome for the spice, stay for the spice. Because there’s a whole lot of spice. I mean it. If you’re looking for a book with a lot of plot and depth then don’t look here, because this book is almost all spice while other people take care of the tiny slice of plot in the background.
I went back and took a peek at my review for Little Bird, the first book in this series, and I remembered how I felt about that book and why before I started Venomous Queen, and I was very satisfied with how much this book improved on what I saw from an objective POV in Little Bird. I may have given both books the same rating, but it was for very different reasons.
While reading book one I hated Link, and I couldn’t understand Raven’s attraction and reactions to him. I stated in my review that I didn’t think it vibed with who she was or how she believed women should be treated. I also said that I thought the book had really good bones and that there was time to fix a lot of the issues I had with Little Bird when book two (Venomous Queen) came out. I’m proud to say I do believe the issues I had with Little Bird have been ironed out, including the issues I had with the dynamic/relationship between Link and Raven. Williams seems to have taken some time to use Quinton (Raven’s silent and shadowy guardian from the first book) as a sounding board to explain why Raven loves the way the other men she loves, even Link, treat her. We also gleaned some knowledge from her inner narrative about the attraction of Link’s dominance and feral nature, which helped me understand where Raven is coming from and I count this as a very good thing and a smart move by Williams.
I love that Quinton was brought on board as a contrast to the other four men in Raven’s life, giving her a developing relationship like she’s never been able to experience before. He’s such a deadly teddy bear. Love that for her.
Like I said, the spice is plentiful, and it is both rough and sometimes very kinky. I was totally down for all of it. Does it come at the expense of a solid plot? Yes. Do I care? Not really. I didn’t come here for a solid story. I came here for smut. And smut is what I got. I’m not sorry.
I was provided a copy of the title by the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
And so we’ve come to the end of another one of Dana Isaly’s remarkable series that she’s worked so hard to write and publish for her most dedicated faAnd so we’ve come to the end of another one of Dana Isaly’s remarkable series that she’s worked so hard to write and publish for her most dedicated fans over the last year and a half. In the last month or so we saw the last entry in her series about Nick and Holly, and now we are seeing the end of the One Night series, which I have enjoyed so much from beginning to end.
This last entry features the workaholic member of the One Night series, Greg, and his strict boss, Ivy. The book opens at the same time the events of Desires We Seek are happening, and Greg isn’t happy to have been forced to leave celebrating in Tokyo with his friends all because his boss snapped her fingers and summoned him to work late. His mood swiftly changes when it turns out Ivy isn’t summoning him to work after hours, unless “working after hours” is code for “let’s do naughty and dirty things in my office and then see where this goes”.
Rules We Break picks up a year later, eight months after Ivy and Greg broke off their secret relationship due to Greg’s constant anxiety they would be caught and lose their jobs. The pair are in Nashville for a work conference, but it’s Ivy’s birthday and they have a night free to go celebrate by catching up, having some drinks, and seeing what Nashville has to offer in terms of nightlife.
From there, you can likely guess where things go. I mean, we aren’t reading this book to play canasta and drink lemonade. Some moonshine is consumed. Some terrible line dancing is done. Some slow dancing in a dive bar is done. Most importantly, a lot of talking is done, notably about how Ivy has decided to retire at the age of 45 because she feels she’s given too much of her life to her job and she wants to actually live the life she’s worked so hard to have. To her, that means she can finally have Greg like she wanted to a year ago, if he’s willing to give it a try.
If you’re a fan of the One Night series I don’t need to tell you that the spice is as excellent as always, with a nice spoonful of domme/sub dynamic, praise kink, and a tantalizing bit of slight sadism that made me the happy kind of squirmy since it’s a favorite trick of my own. What I loved more than the spice (because the spice was expected) was the playful dynamic between Ivy and Greg. They make each other laugh, they are physically affectionate in that warm and casual way I enjoy myself, and neither one of them is weighed down by angst or emotional scars. They’re just two adults ready to enjoy life and each other. That was just one of the best things about the whole book, since sometimes that’s a hard thing to find in erotica novellas involving kink. In my opinion, if a partner isn’t willing to laugh in bed with me, then why are we even there?
I’m not sad to see this series end, because it’s only right it ends here. Everything has to end sometime, and it’s good to go out on the most natural note. Thank goodness it’s a pretty high one.
I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
I am a sucker for romance novels involving sex workers. I’m not ashamed to say that, considering there are myriad other romance novel tropes I won’t nI am a sucker for romance novels involving sex workers. I’m not ashamed to say that, considering there are myriad other romance novel tropes I won’t necessarily admit to many people. I’m all pro-sex worker over here, though, so I feel safe in admitting my love for rent boys, escorts, and call girls.
Fourth Attempt is the introductory novel to Lynn Burke’s latest romance novel series, Elite Escorts, which is indeed about a male escort agency. Our MMC in this story, Blake, is not an escort, however. He’s friends with the owner and sometimes fills in as a pinch hitter for non-sexual encounters from time to time though when asked. So I wouldn’t classify this story to be a male escort romance but more of a taster, if you will, of the Elite Escorts world and all the books to follow coming up in the series.
Fourth Attempt follows Wren, a touch-starved, poor, fiercely independent, and very hard-working pharmacology student at the local college who also works part-time at a local pharmacy. She’s got less than a year until she graduates and she’s just trying to keep her eyes on the prize. When her eyes get tired of looking at the prize, they stray across the street to where a construction company is building a luxury condo building that will eventually block her beloved view of the river. Yeah, she’s a little salty, but she knows there’s nothing to be done about it. In the meantime, though, she can ogle the workers, especially the man in charge, Blake. Blake is definitely something like a swift-moving river: look, but don’t touch. Dangerous to her fragile heart and her laser focus. So Wren keeps to herself and lets her fantasies stay where she thinks they belong: firmly in her head.
The hitch in Wren’s plans to be left alone to fantasize in private about Blake first come about when the two run into each other briefly in front of the Victorian she rents out the attic apartment on, and then again when Blake comes into her pharmacy to buy some sinus medication and realizes how attracted he is to her.
From this point on, Fourth Attempt alternates from being fluffy and sweet, emotional and endearing, and spicy hot. Not in any certain order, mind you, it simply has ups and downs and happy middles. The characters go through transformations, of course, and they have their highs, lows, and very lows. They also have their sweet, sour, gloomy, and absolutely desperate for one another moments.
I thought the pacing was a little off on the book as a whole, but it wasn’t bad enough to affect my enjoyment of the book. It’s a sweet, fluffy, racy romance that’s meant to let you escape the world for a while. Enjoy!
I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All ideas, thoughts, views, and opinions expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: Book Series/Contemporary Romance/Erotica/LGBTQ Friendly/Romance Series/Sex Work Content/Spice Level 3 ...more
First, a note for Sara Cate: I have been here from the beginning of SPC with you and I have been honored to have reviewed every single title of this sFirst, a note for Sara Cate: I have been here from the beginning of SPC with you and I have been honored to have reviewed every single title of this series as a member of your street team. Thank you for creating the SPC for all of us readers and inviting us in. It’s been a pleasure.
I have to say that I had my doubts when Sara announced there would be two more books added to the SPC lineup from the original four expected books. While I didn’t like The Highest Bidder as much as everyone else did, I absolutely loved Madame. It ripped me apart and then put me back together and then I sobbed like a baby at the end (actually, there were a couple of places here and there in the book where I teared up, too).
While this book generally feels like a mix of Eden St. Claire’s story and a general send-off for the SPC series as whole, it never feels like these two matters are just being mushed together for matters of convenience. It feels very organic, like it was meant to happen like this. After all, none of the characters of the SPC are getting any younger, and this book takes place two years after the events at the end of Mercy (book four, if you’re keeping track). All the founding SPC members have settled down in one way or another. Most of them don’t even come into the club anymore. Eden, the Madame who’s been a fixture at SPC since day one, is still there almost every night, working to support her and her son. Does she have control issues? Why yes. Even more so, she has trust issues. I can relate.
Sometimes, life happens though, and even Eden St. Claire can make a mistake. Like getting in a little too deep with a submissive named Clay. She was in too deep before she knew it and Clay was in love. She wasn’t ready for him and she cut the thread between them. She’s felt the ghost of him ever since.
Now, at the beginning of this book, Clay has a new girlfriend named Jade and he’s crazy about her, but she can’t give him everything he needs and part of his heart still belongs to Eden. Jade may be younger and a touch naive, but she knows Clay is hiding a part of himself from her. After a chance run-in with Eden and her son at a movie theater, Jade wants to know who Eden was to Clay, and once she knows a piece of the puzzle all Jade wants is to know more so she can make Clay happy.
So much of this book is focused on a very important point about any relationship, but it’s something that’s essential about BDSM relationships: You can’t just pick up a riding crop and start dominating your partner because you want to make them happy (or vice-versa). You have to want to do things for yourself, to make yourself happy. You can’t fake confidence. You can’t fake dominance. You can’t fake happiness. If you don’t actually want to dominate your partner, you can’t force yourself to. You have to want it for yourself. It has to make you feel good to be that person for them.
Another salient point this book makes is that communication in any relationship at all is key. Especially when everything is falling apart and when everyone is feeling their worst. That’s when it's most important to stand up, say something, and be honest. People can misunderstand things so easily when they’re already down or upset. If you aren’t open and honest with the ones you love, they could slip through your hands and you’ll never regret anything more.
I loved both Eden and Jade in this book. I didn’t like Clay as much. I found him to be a little too much of a privileged man child who didn’t understand boundaries or ethics, but I admired how much he loved Jade and Eden. I definitely identify with Eden, with my control and extreme trust issues.
Eden’s story is touching, as is her evolution as a person and a domme. Seeing her find her place in love and at SPC was a spicy, lovely read. I’m going to miss this series so much but I know I’ll always have at least two copies of every book in the series to keep me happy. You won’t regret reading this book.
I was provided a copy of this title by the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.
File Under: 5 Star Review/Alphabet Soup Romance/Book Series/Contemporary Romance/Erotica/Kink and BDSM Friendly/Lesbian Romance/LGBTQ Romance/Polyamorous Romance/Sex Club/Sex Worker/Spice Level 3 ...more
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