Category Archives: F/F

March 24, 2022 · 12:01 am

Review: Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur

Title: Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur
Written in the Stars Series Book Three
Publisher: Avon
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQ+ (F/F), Romance
Length: 380 pages
Book Rating: C

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through Edelweiss

Summary:

Following Written in the Stars and Hang the Moon, Lambda Literary Award winner and national bestselling author Alexandria Bellefleur pens another steamy queer rom-com about former best friends who might be each other’s second chance at love…

Margot Cooper doesn’t do relationships. She tried and it blew up in her face, so she’ll stick with casual hookups, thank you very much. But now her entire crew has found “the one” and she’s beginning to feel like a fifth wheel. And then fate (the heartless bitch) intervenes. While touring a wedding venue with her engaged friends, Margot comes face-to-face with Olivia Grant—her childhood friend, her first love, her first… well, everything. It’s been ten years, but the moment they lock eyes, Margot’s cold, dead heart thumps in her chest.

Olivia must be hallucinating. In the decade since she last saw Margot, her life hasn’t gone exactly as planned. At almost thirty, she’s been married… and divorced. However, a wedding planner job in Seattle means a fresh start and a chance to follow her dreams. Never in a million years did she expect her important new client’s Best Woman would be the one that got away.

When a series of unfortunate events leaves Olivia without a place to stay, Margot offers up her spare room because she’s a Very Good Person. Obviously. It has nothing to do with the fact that Olivia is as beautiful as ever and the sparks between them still make Margot tingle. As they spend time in close quarters, Margot starts to question her no-strings stance. Olivia is everything she’s ever wanted, but Margot let her in once and it ended in disaster. Will history repeat itself or should she count her lucky stars that she gets a second chance with her first love?

Review:

Count Your Lucky Stars by Alexandria Bellefleur is an entertaining second chance romance. Although this newest release is the third romance in the Written in the Stars series, it can be read as a standalone.

Margot Cooper is the last of her friends to find love. Although she is mostly happy with her life, she is feeling like a fifth wheel and occasionally left out. Margot is the best woman for her friend Brendon’s upcoming wedding and she is shocked when the new events planner walks in. She knows Olivia Grant very well since they were best friends until their friendship ended after they spent one steamy week together a decade earlier. When Olivia needs a place to stay after a problem at her apartment, Margot invites her to stay with her. But her plan to keep things platonic between them is immediately tested once Margot realizes she is still intensely attracted to her former bestie. Will she be able to resist acting on her attraction?

Olivia is well aware Brendon’s wedding will either make or break her career. So, she is not going to allow her feelings for Margot get in the way of planning the perfect wedding. Since Olivia does not have anyone to stay with, she accepts Margot’s offer to become her roommate. Olivia has many wonderful traits but she is a bit of a pushover and a people pleaser. Will this come back to haunt her as she and Margot decide to give in to their very mutual desire?

Count Your Lucky Stars is a funny romance with a great cast of characters. Margot and Olivia are interesting characters but their unresolved issues continue to plague them. The storyline is engaging but the continued miscommunications become frustrating. The pacing is also rather slow. The love scenes between Margot and Olivia are blazing hot, very detailed and take place over several sizzling pages. Old and new fans of Alexandria Bellefleur’s Written in the Stars series will enjoy this laugh out loud romance.

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Filed under Alexandria Bellefleur, Avon, Contemporary, Count Your Lucky Stars, F/F, LGBTQ, Rated C, Review, Romance, Written in the Stars Series

July 28, 2014 · 11:55 pm

Review: Tempting a Sinner by Kate Pearce

tempting a sinnerTitle: Tempting a Sinner by Kate Pearce
The Sinner’s Club Book Two
Publisher: Kensington Books
Imprint: Aphrodisia
Genre: Historical, Erotic, Romance, Mystery/Suspense, M/M, M/F, F/F, M/M/F, F/F/M
Length: 337 pages
Book Rating: B

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Known only to a select few, these inscrutable men are bound by dangerous desires and enigmatic pasts. They are the Sinners Club. . .

Cold Calculation

Within the circles of British intelligence, Benedict, Lord Keyes, is known for his cold brilliance and strict military demeanor. Yet this icy exterior masks a man of smoldering passion and scorching sexuality who will do anything to keep his past a secret. . .

Sultry Satisfaction

Miss Malinda Keyes refuses to be intimidated by Lord Keyes. In fact, she enjoys a good battle, especially one of erotic wiles and carnal cunning. Determined to expose his lordship’s past, she will use every wanton weapon in her arsenal to tease and tempt this sinner into the ultimate sensual surrender. . .

The Review:

Tempting a Sinner, the second installment in Kate Pearce’s highly erotic historical series, The Sinner’s Club, is the highly anticipated and long awaited romance starring Lord Benedict Keyes. It is another scorching hot novel that finally provides answers for the intriguing questions about Keyes and his mysterious past.

Benedict’s eighteen year separation from his wife, Malinda, comes to a very unexpected conclusion when Malinda returns to England following the death of her mother. Their reunion is very unorthodox and although a bit rocky in the beginning, Malinda and Keyes are soon in the midst of a very perplexing mystery surrounding the death of Malinda’s father years earlier. With both Malinda and Benedict keeping secrets from one another, will they uncover the truth before it is too late?

Although Benedict has been featured in previous novels, he continues to be a rather mystifying figure. He has an impeccable reputation and he is quite honorable and well respected by his peers. In his private life, Benedict keeps things simple and he is unencumbered by emotional entanglements. But when he is reunited with Malinda, his hard won control is threatened and she definitely shakes up his well-ordered, quiet life.

Malinda is a mature woman, who is feisty and not afraid to do whatever it takes to untangle the web of deception surrounding her father’s death. She is not exactly forthcoming with information, so she and Benedict stumble around a bit in their investigation until she divulges most of the secrets she has been keeping. Their relationship suffers a bit from the lack of honesty between them, but their emotions and feelings always feel genuine.

Benedict and Malinda’s relationship is complicated by lies and betrayals from their long ago past, but nothing can diminish the fiery passion that burns between them.  Outside of the bedroom, secrets continually come between them, but in the bedroom, these two are definitely on the same page. Sexually adventurous, Benedict and Malinda indulge in a ménage or two (with both another woman and another man). Malinda experiments with a little girl on girl action while Benedict continues his occasional encounters with Adam Fisher, a longtime friend and fellow Sinner’s Club member. Their sexual repertoire also includes voyeurism, bondage, light spankings and a little backdoor action.

A deliciously sensual novel that has no shortage of incredibly passionate encounters, Tempting a Sinner is a beautiful blend of mystery and romance. Kate Pearce keeps The Sinner’s Club series fresh with introduction of new characters and innovative, intriguing storylines. Once again, I am very much looking forward to the next installment in this delightfully provocative and alluring series.

Read my reviews of the other books in the series HERE.

3 Comments

Filed under Aphrodisia, Erotic, F/F, F/F/M, Historical, Kate Pearce, Kensington Books, M/F, M/M, M/M/F, Tempting a Sinner, The Sinner's Club Series

December 17, 2012 · 3:57 am

Review: The Storm by Shelley Thrasher

Title: The Storm by Shelley Thrasher
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Genre: Historical, F/F, Romance
Length: 264 pages
Book Rating: C+

Review Copy Obtained from Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Jacqueline “Jaq” Bergeron—New Orleanian, suffragist, freethinker—drove an ambulance on the battlefields of Europe during the Great War. She returns home and finds herself isolated in rural East Texas, keeping house for her war-hero husband as she awaits his promised divorce and plans her escape. But then she meets Molly.

Molly Russell lives for her music, which sustains her as she cares for her son and husband, and suffers her mother-in-law. When she meets Jaq, a world she never imagined opens to her—a world entirely out of reach.

With the storm of war still raging in Europe and other battles to be fought at home, can two women bound by the land and family ties find the freedom to love and build a life together?

The Review:

Set in the latter years of World War I, Shelley Thrasher’s The Storm is rich in historical details as two unlikely women find love in rural Texas.

Jaq realizes her marriage is a mistake right from the beginning and she and her husband, Eric go their separate ways until he is injured in the war. Following his mother’s death, Eric and Jaq temporarily move to his family’s farm and arrange for household help for his father. Upon her arrival, Jaq meets Molly who lives on a nearby farm with her husband, James, young son, Patrick and her mother-in-law. They form a close friendship and soon both women are fighting their mutual attraction for one another.

Both Jaq and Molly are well-developed and three-dimensional characters. Of the two women, Jaq is the more vibrant and outspoken. She has traveled extensively and her experiences as an ambulance driver in Europe continue to haunt her. Jaq fully accepts and explores her sexuality and she is upfront with Molly about her growing feelings.

Molly is not exactly happy with her life, but she tries to make the best of it. While she cares for her much older husband, James, she does not love him or feel much passion for him. Her mother-in-law is a termagant and nothing Molly does can satisfy her. Molly is devoted to her son Patrick and she is happiest when she is playing the piano and composing new songs. The closer she gets to Jaq, the more dissatisfied Molly becomes with her life.

Husbands James and Eric play very minor roles and remain on the periphery of the story. We see more of Eric as he struggles to recover from his war injuries and an addiction to alcohol. James is a rather weak character who is a good father but a terrible husband. He is a mama’s boy who refuses to defend Molly against his mother’s constant criticism.

Molly’s mother-in-law is absolutely horrible. Opinionated and disappointed in James’s decision to marry Molly, she is hypercritical of everything Molly does. There are a few times when we see her in a more favorable light, but unfortunately, those moments are short lived. Late in the story, she manipulates certain events to achieve her own goals.

The relationship between Molly and Jaq begins as friendship and is very slow growing. As Jaq shares more and more of her life abroad and experiences with the suffrage movement, Molly becomes more aware of the world outside the life she has made for herself. She discovers the self-confidence to stand up for herself and she becomes involved with local politics despite her mother-in-law’s disapproval.

While I enjoyed The Storm for the most part, the story was slow moving and a little disjointed. Jaq’s past was revealed little by little and some of it seemed out of sequence so it was a little difficult to follow. Jaq and Molly are likable characters, and their emotions for one another are believable, but their romance is very drawn out and we never really them together except as friends.

The Storm is very well researched and Shelley Thrasher does a excellent job weaving together fact and fiction. The references to historical events such as the Galveston hurricane, the Spanish Flu epidemic and the suffrage movement add depth and interest to the overall storyline.

Overall an entertaining and enlightening read that fans of historical romances will enjoy.

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Filed under Bold Strokes Books, F/F, Historical, Rated C+, Review, Romance, Shelley Thrasher, The Storm

September 24, 2012 · 3:58 am

Review: The Space Between Us by Megan Hart

Title: The Space Between Us by Megan Hart
Publisher: Harlequin
Imprint: HarlequinMIRA
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic, Romance, Ménage, F/M/F, F/F, M/F
Length: 384 pages
Book Rating: B+

Review Copy Obtained from Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Tesla Martin is drifting pleasantly through life, slinging lattes at Morningstar Mocha, enjoying the ebb and flow of caffeine-starved customers, devoted to her cadre of regulars. But none of the bottomless-cup crowd compares with Meredith, a charismatic force of nature who can coax intimate tales from even the shyest of Morningstar’s clientele.

Caught in Meredith’s sensual, irresistible orbit, inexpressibly flattered by the siren’s attention, Tesla shares long-buried chapters of her life, holding nothing back. Nothing Meredith proposes seems impossible—not even Tesla sleeping with Meredith’s husband, Charlie, while she looks on. After all, it’s all in fun, isn’t it?

In a heartbeat, vulnerable Tesla is swept into a spectacular love triangle. Together, gentle, grounded Charlie and sparkling, maddening Meredith are everything Tesla has ever needed, wanted, or dreamed of, even if no one else on earth understands. They’re three against the world.

But soon one of the vertices begins pulling away until only two points remain—and the space between them gapes with confusion, with grief and with possibility….

The Review:

The Space Between Us is an emotionally complex and highly erotic romance. Megan Hart begins this compelling novel with a tantalizing peak at the ending. But this glimpse gives little of the story away. Instead, it entices the reader to join Tesla, Meredith and Charlie as they embark on an intense relationship that is quickly complicated by unexpected emotions.

The Space Between Us is told in first person from Tesla Martin’s point of view. Tesla is a free spirit, marching along to the beat of her own drummer. She and her brother, Cap, were raised by rather unconventional parents who took the family to live in a commune during their summer vacations. Tesla and Cap had little parental supervision during these visits and they experienced firsthand the free lovin’, partner swapping lifestyle her parents clearly enjoyed. As a result, Tesla is very open minded when it comes to sex and she is in fact, quite comfortable with her own sexuality. She does not conform to society’s expectations and she is actually considered to be a wild child by the people in her life. Of course, Tesla does not view herself this way. She is simply leaving herself open to all possibilities of relationships regardless of the persons’ gender.

At first, Meredith comes across as a warm and caring person. She is quite charming and she easily draws everyone around her into her orbit. She entices them to tell their most interesting stories but gives very little of herself away. A master manipulator, Meredith easily maneuvers Tesla into a ménage relationship with her and her husband Charlie. Although she clearly sees Tesla’s infatuation with her, she initially holds herself back from interacting with Tesla. Slowly but surely, Tesla and Charlie begin to see Meredith for what she truly is and the dynamics of the threesome begin to shift with this new awareness.

Charlie is a sweet, sensitive man. He is hesitant at first to enter into the ménage but Meredith pretty much steamrolls over any objections. Although their marriage is rock solid on the surface, the hidden cracks are slowly revealed. Meredith holds much of herself back and communication is definitely a problem with them. The affection and attraction between Tesla and Charlie is always apparent. As Meredith’s dissatisfaction grows, the more comfortable and close Tesla and Charlie become.

Interspersed with the ménage storyline are key events from Tesla’s past. Told in flashbacks, the events reveal how she became the person she is and provide hints as to why she makes the decisions she does. They show us her hidden desires even though she herself does not know exactly what it is she is searching for.

The Space Between Us is a well-written and multilayered novel. Megan Hart’s characters are always flawed and harbor deep emotional wounds. Her stories are learning experiences for both her characters and her readers. She always manages to touch a nerve and draw gut wrenching emotions from her protagonists. There are never easy fixes and love does not come easily. Many of her novels’ endings are not traditional happily ever afters. Instead, they are always a hint that maybe, just maybe, the couple might find lasting happiness.

Anyone who enjoys a steamy story with genuine and heartfelt emotions and realistic characters is sure to love The Space Between Us.

4 Comments

Filed under Contemporary, Erotic, F/F, F/M/F, Harlequin, HarlequinMira, M/F, Megan Hart, Menage, Rated B+, Review, Romance, The Space Between Us

May 28, 2012 · 3:56 am

Party of Three by Daire St. Denis

Title: Party of Three by Daire St. Denis
Publisher: Carina Press
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic, Romance, Ménage with F/F interaction
Length: 43,000 words
Book Rating: B

Review Copy Obtained from Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Determined to end a long dry spell, Tina is thwarted by her best friend, Des, who scares off the only eligible guy at their party. But Des more than makes up for it when she and her boyfriend, Josh, invite Tina to their own intimate celebration. The encounter awakens cravings Tina didn’t even know she had. She’s intrigued when the couple asks her to join them for two days of sun, sand and steamy sex in Santa Barbara. She should say no. But she doesn’t…

The erotic weekend is beyond amazing. But there’s something deeper developing between the trio–something Tina is not yet ready to explore. After all, their party of three can’t last forever–can it?

43,000 words

The Review:

A simple ménage with her best friend Des and her boyfriend Josh becomes a sexual awakening for Tina in Party of Three. A bit of a suspenseful subplot spices up this sinfully steamy and incredibly erotic novella by Daire St. Denis.

Best friends for twenty years, Tina and Des are very close friends. But even the closest of friends do not share everything. Both Tina and Des are harboring secrets from each other. One of Tina’s secrets has her mired in guilt and influences her relationships with men. Des’s secret is explosive and proves to be quite dangerous for Tina.

Also kept hidden is the attraction Des and Tina feel for one another. Tina is quite surprised by her attraction to Des and rather ashamed of her intense passion for Josh. Her exploration of her sexuality puts her in an awkward and embarrassing position with a client and puts her in a perilous situation that is filled with danger.

Josh is completely onboard with the ménage relationship. While we do not learn a great deal about him, his relationship with his mother provides insight and depth to his character. He is super sexy and his sex scenes with Des and Tina are smokin’ hot!

Party of Three is a lovely story that is quite entertaining. The characters are fairly well-developed and the storyline is interesting and unique. While this is my first Daire St. Denis book, it will definitely not be my last.

4 Comments

Filed under Carina Press, Contemporary, Daire St Denis, Erotic, F/F, Menage, Party of Three, Rated B, Romance

May 2, 2012 · 3:56 am

The Pleasure Dial by Jeremy Edwards

Title: The Pleasure Dial by Jeremy Edwards
Publisher: OC Press
Genre: Historical, Erotic, Romance, M/F, F/F, Voyuerism
Length: 43,000 words
Book Rating: B

Review Copy Obtained from Publisher

Summary:

The year is 1934, and amiable New York gag writer Artie Plask has taken the West Coast plunge. His first day on staff with a top radio show introduces him to the irresistible Mariel Fenton, a wit among wits who immediately takes an interest in all aspects of Artie’s life—especially his private life. As Artie finds his feet in a world of blustering comedians, pansexual sex goddesses, timid screen legends, exhibitionistic scriptwriters, and self-infatuated geniuses, Mariel leads him on a zany journey up and down the pleasure dial—a giddy romp through Hollywood that’s chock-full of airwaves showdowns, writing-room counterplots, devious impersonations, naked meetings, and a sensuality-drenched assortment of erotic escapades.

The Review:

The Pleasure Dial by Jeremy Edwards is an extremely fun and incredibly sexy story set amidst the glamour of 1934 Hollywood. Artie Plask’s first day on the job as one of Sid Heffy’s comedic writers is full of surprises and unexpected sexual adventures.

The Pleasure Dial has a superb cast of vibrant characters. Artie Plask is easy going, laidback and sexually adventurous. He is immediately attracted to Sid’s daughter, Elyse, a highly sexual young woman who does her best thinking with her hands between her thighs ;). He is also captivated by the equally attractive and sexually alluring Mariel Fenton. Mariel also possesses a keen wit and sharp intellect that Artie fully appreciates. Rounding out this fabulous cast of characters is vivacious group of writers and Hollywood starlets who keep this rollicking story moving at a brisk pace.

The Pleasure Dial by Jeremy Edwards is an animated and light-hearted story with lushly detailed and highly erotic sex scenes. It also has a fresh and innovative storyline with smart and intelligent characters who unapologetically embrace their sexuality and fully indulge their sexual appetites. A delightfully charming novel that readers are sure to enjoy.

4 Comments

Filed under Erotic, F/F, Historical, Jeremy Edwards, M/F, OC Press, Rated B, Romance, The Pleasure Dial, Voyeurism