Author
Darke Paranormal Investigations, Book #1
Heat Factor: There’s some spice
Character Chemistry: They are very communicative about liking each other
Plot: Edwina is hunting for ghosts in Simon’s haunted B&B and finds more than she bargained for
Overall: This one didn’t really work for me
The Handymen, Book #3
Reviews of previous books in The Handymen series: Book #1, Book #2
Heat Factor: It was…delicious.
Character Chemistry: They were soooooo good together in just so many ways which is just how this series is from start to stop.
Plot: Nick takes on the last project for the Handymen TV series after being the subject of a pretty demeaning cyberbullying campaign. The property is owned by Claire, a widow who is in desperate need of a fresh start—and sparks fly almost instantaneously.
Overall: UGHHH this is such a phenomenal end to the Handymen Series and I loved it so much.
To celebrate Women’s History Month, every Saturday in March we’ve prepared a Saturday Smutty Six list of some of our favorite heroines.
This week: Chefs and Bakers and purveyors of delicious things
Lesbian. Dueling. Chefs. Need I say more?
Ok I’ll say more. This small-town Maine romance is beautifully gentle AND has great food writing.
Elizabeth owns a chocolate shop, where she sells handmade bonbons and other delicious confections. Yum. She also loves her body, prefers to take the lead in a relationship (both in and out of the bedroom), and shows people she cares for them by literally caring for them. Of course Sidney is absolutely smitten! Now he just needs to overcome his complex about not being good enough for her.
In this delicious Christmas tale, Noelle is desperate to successfully run her bakery business and ignore the endlessly funny and mouthwateringly gorgeous Marine who keeps helping her sort out these inexplicable messes she finds herself in. Instead, they attempt a little holiday friends-with-benefits scenario that is both charming and hot, hot, HOT.
Emily inherits her grandmother’s old home and ends up on a fixer-upper show with the incredibly talented and very foxy Zorn brothers in an effort to turn it into a location for her new soup-making business. Michael Zorn is desperately trying to forget a traumatizing experience and is utterly failing at it. Between the two of them, they sift through experiences and memories and find a new way forward together.
Ashna is an extremely talented chef who can’t cook unless she’s following her father’s recipes exactly. Which is a problem, since she’s running an Indian restaurant that could really use makeover – and some new menu items. And is an even bigger problem when she gets talked into participating in a cooking competition show, where she’s paired with none other than her ex-boyfriend. Expect lots of angst and drama.
Sarah owns a pie shop. Josh wants to throw a pi day party to impress his estranged father. Ok, so his motivations are a little wack, but it does mean that we get lots of scenes of Sarah developing delicious-sounding pie recipes and then eating them with Josh. Especially recommended for pie enthusiasts and math nerds.
To celebrate Women’s History Month, every Saturday in March we’ve prepared a Saturday Smutty Six list of some of our favorite heroines. This list is organized in roughly chronological order.
This week: Activists
TL;DR – Hester is the shit. Her home is a station on the Underground Railroad, she is an activist and leader in her community, she only buys products made by people who are anti-slavery (even though she’s on a budget and it would be cheaper not to), and she’s doing just fine.
Annabelle is sort of a reluctant activist, because she’s a suffragette primarily because she has to be in order to afford going to Oxford. On the other hand, she’s an awesome activist because she’s breaking down academic walls by attending university, proving that women are just as academic-minded as men. Enjoyed the angst and the power dynamics between Annabelle and the Duke.
Cassandra is a proto-feminist who really doesn’t have time for Ashmont-the-himbo, but also social constructs are what they are and as much as we might wish it otherwise, they can’t be smashed overnight. Enjoy a thoughtful approach to the “compromised but feminist” histrom heroine in a non-obnoxious Shakespeare retelling.
We recommend this book a lot, but that’s because Daisy Swann is so awesome. She’s a chemist. She’s starting a make-up empire. And she integrates her love of make-up into activism: by helping herself (and other women) feel beautiful, she develops the confidence to step into spaces previously barred to women. The scene where she and her friends crash a snooty restaurant is especially delightful.
Bernie is fighting to keep her family property–and Eli Zorn is preparing to help tear it down for his Fixer Upper tv show. As it turns out, Bernie has big dreams to help provide a safe space for bullied kids…and Eli is just the guy to help her realize that dream.
Julia moves to Texas to be with her boyfriend, who ends up not being her boyfriend anymore. Just when she’s pulling together a life with good friends and getting settled at her AMAZING job, everything gets put on the line when Rocco comes in to evaluate whether Julia’s organization should continue its work in the community. Loved every single character in this beautifully written book!
These books might be tropetastic, but they also handle the tropes with aplomb. And avoid ridiculous angst and miscommunication, because the characters talk to each other like adults.
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Let’s start with: these two protagonists have ignored each other for years and then decide to have a fake relationship, so the only way for them to go is up. What with court(ish) intrigue and a fake relationship, there’s plenty of room for these protagonists to jump to conclusions and have misunderstandings, but they don’t. They demonstrate trust and kindness all the way through. It’s heartwarming and steamy.
Yes, it’s a best friend’s sibling, small town romance, but Break the Rules digs deep to take us past all the standard romance noise and get the protagonists to ask the question: Is this relationship important enough to me that I stop thinking about what’s good for “me” and start thinking about what’s good for “us”? And I mean that in a healthy, relationships-take-compromise way, not in a subjugation way. Also, the sex scratches on his back are what give it all away to his brothers. Yowza.
Age gap romance is generally an Erin thing, because she likes paternalistic heroes, but Holly really enjoyed this one – mainly because the (much younger) heroine called out the (much older and also more powerful) hero on his paternalistic bullshit all the time. Especially when he thought he was “acting in her best interest.” Watching these two fight their lust for each other, and then build a true partnership among equals despite their different socio-economic and cultural statuses was deeply satisfying. And very very sexy.
These two protagonists have some not great history, but the way they get to know each other again as adults is delicious. Both protagonists have some emotional baggage, but they manage to communicate with each other and not jump to wild conclusions when the going gets tough, which was lovely to read. Also, when they finally hit the bedroom, I was DED.
Eden is extremely sheltered and has had her entire life controlled by her father. So when she trades tutoring for lessons in seduction from the steamiest guy in class, one would THINK Eden would be in for a world of trouble–and a broken heart. But no. Not from sexy, swoon-worthy, thoughtful, supportive Jake. This book is a delicate, slow burn of appreciation for unappreciated skills and open communication. You’re going to think it’s almost TOO relaxing and enjoyable, but don’t get too comfortable–these lessons will get your heart racing.
Here we have a sexy and complicated book featuring a SUPER sexy reality TV show carpenter who is also trying to figure out how to deal with PTSD after a traumatic incident, and a chef who is trying to rebuild her life after getting her hiney handed to her in a break up. Sounds like a hot mess, right? Well, yeah. Kind of. They are a mess, but they’re also human beings who are thoughtful and self-aware and who melt the walls with their chemistry.
The Smut Report 