Trope
Dangerous Damsels, Book #1
Heat Factor: The door is very slightly ajar
Character Chemistry: Banter + assassination attempts + confusing pants feels
Plot: Let’s just say it’s bonkers
Overall: A very fun read…if you’re in the right mood
Hell’s Bells, Book #1
Heat Factor: He really likes to go down on her.
Character Chemistry: It started before the book, so there’s not a ton of buildup.
Plot: She’s in an extralegal girl gang, he’s got dark secrets, being together isn’t going to work, but everything swirling around them connects them. As does sex.
Overall: There’s a lot in this book that should be more prevalent in historical romance.
This month, as part of talking about morality chain romances, we all read Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. It comes up frequently as a “canon” romance, but none of us had read it before. Spoiler alert: we all really liked it.
Scoundrels, Book #3
Holly
Heat Factor: Purple prose alert!
Character Chemistry: Sarcasm abounds. Also, she tells him that he’s sensitive and he’s baffled but she’s not wrong.
Plot: Jessica must rescue her brother from the clutches of the Marquess of Dain. He compromises her. She shoots him. They get married.
Overall: ZOMG. The plot gets a little saggy towards the end, but I still had a blast.
Erin
Heat Factor: Kissing in the RAIN! 💕 But yeah, standard histrom fare albeit on the steamy side
Character Chemistry: She’s competent AF and he’s a man baby, and they’re both super besotted, so it’s pretty excellent, in fact
Plot: antagonists → spouses → exasperated (Jessica)/emotionally constipated (Dain) → lovers
Overall: Bottom line, this is simply a very fun read
Ingrid
Heat Factor: Oh, my.
Character Chemistry: Had Dain been with any other woman, I would have hated it…but since he was with Jess…swoon.
Plot: Dain is fully committed to a life of debauchery when he meets Jessica, who is a spinster and really doesn’t have any time for his nonsense unless he’s got her pressed up against a wall. Once he ruins her and refuses to do the right thing, she shoots him, they negotiate, and they’re pretty much in a bout of emotional fencing until the book ends.
Overall: Obsessed.
Game Changers, Book #2
Heat Factor: Melting all the ice on all the rinks
Character Chemistry: The bad boy is soft for the good boy
Plot: They met when they were 17 and were attracted to each other immediately, but ever since they were recruited to the NHL, their rivalry and antipathy has been played up so much that they can never really fall in love
Overall: So. Good. Totally hit the spot
The Game Maker, Book #2
Review of The Game Maker, Book #1
Heat Factor: They have amazing kinky hate sex energy
Character Chemistry: The “I hate you but I really want to jump you” dynamic is EXCEPTIONAL
Plot: She needs money to stay on the run from her serial killer husband, so she steps in for her friend as a very expensive escort for a night. He is bowled over by her breath of fresh air in his luxurious but monotonous life, but he also thinks everything she says is a lie. So obviously they fall in love.
Overall: Combo of “What did I even just read?” and “That was amazing.”
