TWO DADS FOR CHRISTMAS by Kate Richards

1Night Stand series

Publisher: decadentpublishing.com
Date published: 12-22-13
ISBN: 978-1-61333-639-7
M/F/M, M/M, menage, interracial, multicultural
E-book
Reviewed by Helen
Weblink: http://www.decadentpublishing.com/product_info.php?products_id=877&osCsid=nt7f2omv7qhh61d5spo3dnqql5
Obtained via publisher
Rating: 4




Lauren is sent to Alaska to help her aunt at the Castle Lodge resort there. Also sent there for the grand opening is Jorrell, who hates the cold weather and is close to achieving a vice-presidency in the Castillo resorts. The third member is Zach who lives nearby and is a fishing guide. Each has their own issues and problems to work through but these all seem easier to deal with as the three bond as good friends.


There are some little hints earlier on, but the reader doesn’t find out that Lauren is pregnant until halfway through the book. I really think talking about it and the possible adoption in the first line of the official blurb gives away far too much of the storyline. Why read the book when the main conflict from Lauren’s point of view is clearly spelled out in the blurb? The men do have conflicts as well, but they are dealt with much more lightly in the blurb whereas Lauren’s is spelled out thoroughly.
Ms. Richards is an excellent writer and details the landscape, the weather, the characters and the plot very well indeed. The touches of humor about the various characters’ attitudes to the weather is well done indeed, and very accurate to people’s tastes.

The book is good fun to read with a hot sex scene (although it isn’t really fully-fledged ménage sex), a neat plot, and an excellent grounding and atmosphere. Paul and Rex and Andie are back again for cameo roles in this novel which will also endear it to previous readers of Ms. Richards’s work.
In my opinion the only thing wrong with the book is the official blurb. I hope Ms. Richards changes it very soon and in future hints but doesn’t tell in her blurbs. This is one case where less absolutely is more.


This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

 

 

SEDUCING HELENA by Ann Mayburn

Publisher:  Decadent Publishing
Published:   March 1, 2014
ISBN:  978 1 61333 614 4
Genre:   M/F, Contemporary, Interracial
Book format:  E-book
Obtained via:   Publisher
Reviewed by:  Helena Stone helenastone63@gmail.com

Rating: 4+

Was there ever the possibility of me not reading a book titled ‘Seducing Helena’? I guess not. And, while it can be risky picking a book based solely on the title, I’m very glad to say I got away with it this time.

Helena Flores is a supermodel who enjoys her job and the lifestyle it allows her to have, but feels lonely in a world where everybody knows who she is and wants a piece of her but nobody appears to be interested in exactly who she is. When she sees a picture of Marine Seth Morgan she feels an instant attraction to him and jumps on the opportunity to correspond with him, while keeping her identity secret.

The emails from his funny, sexy and feisty pen-pal are a life line for Seth during his last few months as a Marine. It isn’t long before the two are sharing sexual fantasies as well as anecdotes from their lives. When Seth discovers who Helena really is, he has doubts about his ability to be able to fit into her world. He can’t quite see how a simple man like him could ever be good enough for the superstar the woman he’s beginning to fall for is. But Seth has a plan; his seduction of Helena will be slow and sensual. He is determined to proof that it is the woman he’s interested in, not the beautiful and famous model.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a short, light, funny and sexy read; more or less what I expected. However, ‘Seducing Helena’ was more than that.

For starters, the main characters in this book, especially Helena, are anything but stereotypes.

“Helena knew her beauty was considered unconventional for the modelling world, with her curves, dark brown skin and bold nose.”

That description doesn’t just make her unconventional in the modelling world; romantic fiction could do with a lot more a-typical characters as well and it was wonderful to come across one here. Especially one as fun and captivating as Helena. Here we have a woman who owns her own life, knows what she wants and is not only willing, but happy to pay the price for it.

I liked that Helena was not only in control of her life but also confident about her body and fully engaged and unashamed about her sexual appetite. This woman can give pleasure as well as she can receive it and doesn’t make a secret of her desires. No false modesty, no weakness and no surrender; if Seth finds himself in control of the situation it is because that’s how Helena wants it.

I liked Seth as well. He may be like fish out of water in Helena’s world, he is willing to embrace it because it is part of who she is and he has fallen for her. The macho Marine is perfectly happy to follow his woman’s lead when he’s out of his comfort zone and looks all the stronger for it. And his slow and restrained seduction of Helena, while suppressing his owns burning need for, her was both touching and hot.

I was impressed with the way the author touched on the fact that this is an interracial romance and pointed out some potential pitfalls without making it the focus of the story.

The very, very hot emails between Seth and Helena were a treat and a wonderful lead up to the moment they get together. In fact, I don’t think I was bored or distracted for a single moment while reading ‘Seducing Helena’. Ann Mayburn may be yet another author I’ll have to further investigate.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

LOVER ENSLAVED by Eva Lefoy

Publisher:  Decadent Publishing
Published:   31, January 2014
ISBN:  978-1-61333-650-2
Genre:   M/M. contemporary, interracial, multicultural, LGBT
Book format:  E-Book
Obtained via:    Publisher
Reviewed by name and email address:  Helena helenastone63@gmail.com

Rating: 3.5

“His moans sounded like sobs from a long-forgotten, sad story.”

This was my third ‘1 Night Stand’ novella in a month and I have to admit I’m quickly turning into a fan of this series. I love the premise of these stories; two people desperately looking for that elusive love connection turn to Madame Eve to set them up with a perfect partner for one night. If all goes to plan that one night will be the basis for a happily ever after, but not without some obstacles to overcome first. I mean, what’s not to like?

In this book American contract negotiator Thomas Barkley finds himself stranded in Mumbai having just been made redundant. Thomas has lost the man he loved under tragic circumstances 18 months earlier and hasn’t been able to be intimate with anyone else since. He’s almost forgotten the request he sent to Madame Eve months ago when he’s notified that his one night stand will take place in his hotel that night.

Arjun Mukesh has been a rent boy all his life. Since it is the caste he was born into he never expected to be anything else and can’t imagine a life that wouldn’t involve giving himself to men for money or the violence his pimp, Ranjeet inflicts upon him. All he’s asked Madame Eve for is one night of real pleasure since love is a dream he can’t afford to indulge himself in.

When Thomas reaches the room where Arjun is waiting for him he walks into a violent scene. He manages to scare Ranjeet off, but is heartbroken to discover that this is what Arjun’s life is and always will be. The night the two men share is a revelation for both. While Thomas discovers that he can develop feelings for somebody other than the lover he lost, Arjun experience real pleasure and intimacy for the very first time. Arjun has never been with a man who is as anxious to make sure Arjun gets his pleasure as he is for his own.

More violence follows the two men while they explore each other’s bodies as well as life-stories. When Arjun disappears the following morning Thomas knows that he has to find the man he’s begun to fall for as well as a way of bringing him back to America with him.

This was a charming little story even if there seemed to be a bit too much happening for such a short tale. Personally I would have liked to see a bit more of the two men discovering each other and a little bit less of the violence. Having said that, everything we were shown about the two men was well written and clearly painted. I especially appreciated Arjun’s story and his inability to believe that somebody might want to give him pleasure for no other reason than to make him happy, and his reluctance to believe that it might be something he could hang on to.

Some of the writing in this story – like the sentence I quoted at the top of this review – was so beautiful it took my breath away. I also liked that the book came with an epilogue, giving us a small glimpse of the future and the happy ending Madame Eve had once again managed to create for two of her clients.

Now that I’ve found these ‘1 Night Stand’ stories I find myself rather addicted to them, so it’s just as well there seem to be a lot of them and new ones are being published quite regularly. Sometimes a hot quick read is exactly what this reader needs; at moments like that I could do a lot worse than turn to this series.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.

DO OR DIE by Suzanne Brockmann

Publisher:  Ballantine
Published:   February 4, 2014
ISBN:  978-0345543790
Genre:   Romantic Suspense, M/M, Interracial
Book format:  Hardback
Obtained via:  Publisher
Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina Gina@loveromancesandmorereviews.com

Two -1/2

Former Navy SEAL Ian Dunn didn’t just leave the SEALs when his tour of duty was up—he went rogue, but in a Robin Hood kind of way.  He studies a bad guy and then, along with his team, goes after them.  Or he did until he got mixed up with the wrong kind of people.  Or did he?

Now, in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, one Martell Griffin appears at the prison with a mission for Ian.  But there is a bit of a fly in Martell’s ointment in the form of Phoebe Kruger. Phoebe insists she has been sent by Ian’s firm to essentially protect his rights in the mission Martell has in mind for him.  But Ian isn’t buying it.  He has his reasons for remaining in prison for another year or so, even at the risk of two young children.  But Martell and Phoebe aren’t going to take no for an answer and before Ian knows it he is pulled out of prison and on his way to see their job through.

That is until Ian decides if he’s in, he’s doing it his way.  He ditches Martell and takes off with Phoebe, heading toward a safe house but first he has some family business to take care of.  Until he knows his family is safe two children he’s never met and who he’s not all that sure are really in trouble, he’s doing things his way.   

I had such high hopes for Suzanne Brockmann’s latest book, DO OR DIE, the first in her new Reluctant Heroes series.  I was looking forward to a non-stop thriller with a lot of romance, heavy on the suspense.  It didn’t quite deliver.  In a world that is becoming ever more PC at times I feel that authors who write contemporary series have a check list of elements they have to follow:

Gay couple:  check
Interracial couple:  check
Cute baby:  check

While Brockmann doesn’t have what often amounts to the gratuitous gay couples I’ve seen a number of authors include in their books, I didn’t quite expect the story to take the turn it did.  While it was billed as a rescue of two kidnapped children, the story focused more on how the father of one of the gay spouses hated his son and would have rather seen him dead than married to another man.  While this is a story that needs to be told, I would not have picked up the book for review had I know this was going to be the main focus of this book.  

Martell was another disappointment.  He’s portrayed as rather clueless with his tongue hanging out over every woman, generally white, he lays his eyes on.  He could have been done as a dashing, hot, and totally together characters.

For the most part the story was pretty pedestrian and if it hadn’t been for review I would have put it on the “do not finish” pile. 

Brockmann fans will love it because it IS a Brockmann.  Me, not so much.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.