Review: Happy Hour (#4)

Happy Hour by Mari Carr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jamie, Trey, and Grace are all teachers at the same high school. On Fridays, they like to get together at the local bar for happy hour. It's April....almost graduation....and they're all about to go crazy. If it wasn't for their Friday night get-togethers, they all probably would.

Grace is 40 and has been single for quite a while. Her husband died in a car accident, leaving her alone with their young daughter who is now about to graduate from high school. Grace has devoted her life to raising her daughter and now that she’s about to be faced with living alone for the first time in her life, she realizes how much she’s missed out on. With the encouragement of her BFF (and fellow teacher) Cheryl, Grace is determined to make this happy hour a different one. She’s going to cut loose and allow herself to be that person she’s always held back from being. And Jamie and Trey both pick up on her new attitude on life. Jamie, who is secretly (or really, not so secretly...according to his friends) is in love with Grace. And he has been for a while, but he’s never bothered to act on it. He’s about 8 years younger than Grace, is Grace’s daughter’s softball coach, oh, and he also suffered a devastating loss of love when his fiance walked out on him. Needless to say, these two crazy kids have a lot stacked against them.

So, what will it take to get Grace and Jamie together? A little good, old fashioned jealousy. Trey, fellow coach at the school and best friend of Jamie, tries out a little bump-and-grind dancing with Grace and Jamie doesn’t seem to like it one bit. Then Trey admits that he did it only to put a boot to Jamie’s ass to get him to ask her out. What Trey didn’t count on was that he would genuinely get the hots for Grace. Although Jamie isn’t too keen on sharing a woman, Trey assures him that it would only be for one night. He basically just wants to tap that and move on. Trey knows that Jamie and Grace are meant for each other, but he thinks she needs to sow some wild oats before she settles down with Jamie. (Mind you - Jamie has yet to ask Grace out....so he’s making a lot of assumptions. But apparently anyone with eyes in their head can see the chemistry and affection between Jamie and Grace.)

While Jamie is initially hesitant to proposition Grace with their menage scheme, he soon realizes that his raging hard-on for the hot English teacher trumps any fears he might have about her saying no. And of course, Grace doesn’t say no.

The trio leaves the bar and heads to Jamie’s house for some, you guessed it, smoking hot-for-teacher sex. The thing I love most about Mari Carr’s books is her ability to write consistently hot sex scenes. Even if I don’t care for the characters, the sex is always super hot. Luckily for me.....I did love the characters in the book. So much. While Grace and Trey are obviously hot for each other, it’s also obvious that Grace and Jamie are meant to be together.

Menage stories are sometimes hit or miss for me. I loved this one because it didn’t aspire to be a “let’s live this threesome alternative lifestyle” type of story. No. It was just three people, having smoking hot three-way sex and then going about their normal lives. No trying to buck society’s norms. No, it was just some one night only naughty sexytimes. And it worked. So well. Jamie seemed just like the kind of guy you’d want to take home to meet your parents. You know, as long as no one brings up the threesome with his best friend over the get-to-know-you dinner.

Review: Tequila Truth (#2)

Tequila Truth by Mari Carr

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kylie, Colt, and Heath have been best friends and roommates since college. It's their tradition to play "Tequila Truth" during every birthday celebration. What is tequila truth? They each take a shot and honestly answer a question that is asked of the group. Usually the questions are highly sexual. So....at their most recent birthday celebration, the question was about what their ultimate sexual fantasy was. Kylie's answer....to be with two men, with bondage and spanking thrown in for extra fun. Fast forward to a shot time later. Neither Colt or Heath can forget about Kylie's answer, even though they are all "just friends". It's not until Heath walks in on Kylie and her boyfriend and a BDSM session that turned into an actual beating that things change. Heath and Colt think that THEY should be the ones to fulfill Kylie's ultimate fantasy, rather than her getting careless with guys that don't have her safety and well-being in mind. So, they purpose a weekend of sexual fantasy fulfillment for Kylie. When the weekend's over, they go back to the way things were - friends and roommates. But after the sex play begins, all three realize that they all might have been more than "just friends" all along.

So much of this book worked for me.....but so much of it didn’t. I didn’t like Colt’s constant use of the word “darlin’”. Yea, I know he’s a Southern gentleman and all of that. I get it....I’m Southern, and I know people like that. And it gets on my nerves in real life as much as it did in this book. And while I bought them all as friends, I didn’t buy them as much as a sexual trio. No doubt, the sex was super hot....but I never saw that transition from hot sex to love between the three of them. I think it was probably there all along, so there wasn’t a place for a transition from just friends having hot sex to true love....but I wanted to see it. I needed it in order for me to be able to buy them as a lifetime committed trio.

And there were just a few lines that made me groan. Granted, they were said in jest....but they took me completely out of the moment. They happened in the same scene, almost in the same paragraph. “Darlin’, are you ready to take a little ride on the roommate roller coaster?” and “Buckle up and keep your cocks inside my body at all times, boys.” Oh good God, no. I repeat....the characters were joking when they said these lines....but really? Really.

I’ve read many books that involve a menage fling winding up as a full lifetime commitment - and it’s worked. I just didn’t buy it in this book. Realistically, I don’t really get people having these relationships in real life, but when it comes to fiction, I can suspend my disbelief. I mean....it is fiction, after all. But I just wasn’t able to do it in this book. Don’t get me wrong, though....there is some entertainment to be found in this book. The sex is smoking hot, no doubt. I just didn’t grow to care about these characters like I have in some of Mari Carr’s other books.

Review: Take Your Pick

Take Your Pick by Jasmine Haynes

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ok. This just might be one of the dirtiest books I have ever read. Not that "dirty" is a bad thing. I'm just saying - this book isn't for the faint of heart. There is M/F, M/F/M, M/M/F, and M/M. Yep - it coves it all. There's also oral, anal, and plain ole va-jay-jay sex. BUT! Thankfully.....there are also a lot of condoms. I love it when a dirty book uses condoms. It just makes it feel less dirty somehow. Like - "Hey, they may like their hot monkey sex upside down, up the butt, and back again - but at least they're safety conscious!"

The story revolves around Rena - a beautiful, powerful business executive. She's involved with Grant - a handsome, powerful business executive. Together, they have awesome, kinky, powerful business executive sex. And - they also happen to have an open relationship. That is, until one night when Grant decides that he wants to be exclusive. Although Rena is totally into Grant, she feels that she can't get everything she needs from him alone. She feels he withholds his passionate side from her. Although she is sexually satisfied with him.....it's missing something....wild, unrestrained passion. That something - well - Rena gets it from Karl. Karl is her hot contractor. And he is 100% pure passion. He'll grab her as she walks in her house and fuck her up against a wall, or on a countertop, or the floor.....whenever and wherever the mood strikes. He also loves to fuck her after she leaves Grant's bed. The smell of another man on her turns him on. (Yea, he's a dirty boy....!)

During Rena and Karl's hot monkey sex session.....Rena happens to mention that Grant wants to be exclusive. Meaning, she would have to give Karl up and neither one of them wants that to happen. Rena can't decide who she wants more (or rather - whose fucking she can do without). Karl suggests that she fuck both him and Grant - together - and decide then.

Grant agrees - somewhat reluctantly - and this is where the crazy stuff gets really crazy and really dirty.

I'm not about to go into detail about the crazy sexcapades that go down in this book. Instead, I'll just use a few key words: raunchy, menage, balls, licking, 69, and so on and so forth.

If you're looking for a sweet book where the characters make love to each other, this ain't that book. Oh sure, the characters care about each other and everything is consensual - but make no mistake about it - this book is about fucking. There's enough plot to move the characters from one orgasm to the next, but did I happen to mention that this book is all about the fucking? It's not about some pansy-ass plot points. It's about fucking. Hot monkey sex. Menage. Fucking.

Did I mention fucking?

Review: Reawakening

Reawakening by Charlotte Stein

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was the first book that I was really nervous about reading and reviewing. An ARC was given to me by the author, as well as an opportunity to have her do a guest blog on my website. (No pressure!) After I agreed to it, I was scared. What if I ended up hating the book? I had never read anything by Charlotte Stein (although I do have two of her books in my TBR pile). I had never read any books about zombies. This had all the makings of situation that could go horribly, horribly wrong. Would I lie about the book and just say I liked it, even if I didn't? It was with all of these trepid thoughts that I began to read Reawakening.

Turns out, my fears proved to be completely unfounded because I loved the book! (Whew!)

A zombie apocalypse has taken over and there are very few humans left. June has been fighting them off for the past two years when she is rescued by Jamie and taken to a remote island. The only other inhabitant of this little island is Blake. Two hot guys and one chick. The only humans left (that they know of). I'll admit, this book was much different than some of the books I've read lately. You know, the ones where the characters are having hot monkey sex by page 3. Yea. THOSE books. It took me about 25 pages of constantly thinking "is this when they all have sex?" to realize that this isn't one of THOSE books. Oh yea, there's sex.....hot sex.....but not until much later on. Once I chilled out on the sex front, I was able to delve into the world where flesh-eating zombies roamed free.

The beginning of the book plays out in a way that I can only describe as unsettling. Like, I was constantly on edge, as if someone was hovering behind me with their fingernails poised over a chalkboard.....and I never knew when they were going to screech their nails down on it. It wasn't tense as in "OMG, I'm so scared" kind of way, it was just....unsettling. I was always a little confused, and I would go back a page or two and read a little bit, thinking maybe I had missed something. Then I finally realized - DUH! I'm supposed to be unsettled....zombies have taken over the fucking planet. How ELSE am I supposed to feel? For all those tense moments, you're right there with the heroine, June, wondering if a zombie is lurking around the next corner waiting to eat her face off.

After Jamie gets June to the island, things are a little tense and awkward for all of those involved. June is constantly thinking that Jamie and Blake will turn into zombies at any moment. She barely speaks to them and they basically just walk on eggshells around her.....trying not to spook her anymore than they know she already is. (If anyone qualifies for a major case of PTSD, it's a chick who's been fighting zombies 24/7 for the past 2 years.)

Eventually, June loosens us around them a little and they all sort of become friends. They share meals, play endless games of Scrabble, but the tiptoeing around each other continues. (Sexual tension, much?) And then June has a sex dream about them which awakens all of these sexual feelings that she has shelved for the past 2+ years. The sex dreams continue, although she doesn’t tell the boys about them. She thinks they aren’t attracted to her and then she finds out they think she is a lesbian. But eventually, it happens. She makes out with Jamie, and that’s as far as it gets. For now. And at some point, she makes out with Blake as well. It isn’t until they fly back to the mainland in search of supplies that things go from heavy petting to hot monkey sex. While searching for supplies (like food and fuel), Jane’s dumb ass decides to venture out in search of condoms, gets spotted by a zombie, and has to fight it off. She kills it and that’s when the guys realize that this bitch can take care of herself - though they’re not happy with her running off on her own. This whole escapade prompts June and Jamie to have a little talk, wherein they discuss the fact she has sex on the brain - hence the need for condoms - and the fact that Jamie and Blake also have sex on the brain, but they don’t want to freak her out by saying “Hey, yea, I know it’s the zombie apocalypse and all, but do you wanna have a threeway?” Ok, so no one ever says that, exactly, but that’s the subtext. How June could have ever thought they didn’t want her is beyond me. I mean, if there’s ever a sure way to get laid, it’s to make sure you are the ONLY KNOWN FEMALE LEFT ON THE PLANET.

Eventually, they all get to the hot monkey threeway sex part. And it is H.O.T. And Jamie even pops out the “I love you” during one of the threeways. (Good timing, dude!) And because these three dumbass kids can’t communicate with each other worth a damn, feelings get mixed up, there’s the whole Jamie / Blake “she loves you more - no she loves YOU more” stuff. I swear, even during a fucking zombie apocalypse, guys are still so damn thick-headed stubborn and stupid.

The thing is, June has fallen for both guys - in completely different ways and it takes almost losing one of them to a zombie that made it to the island for them to all realize that their threeway love circle could actually work.

I glazed over a lot - obviously, cause I don’t want to give it all away.....but this book just worked for me on so many levels. Like I said at the beginning, I was completely unsettled by the writing. I didn’t enjoy that at first; I didn’t understand it. I’m not used to reading romance/erotica that sort of gives me the heebie-geebies in a way that has nothing to do with anything sexual. As I continued through the book, I realized that the unsettling was a very deliberate effort to do just that.....unsettle me. It was saying - Don’t get too comfortable.....this ain’t your average erotica tale.

There’s also a great deal of humor in this book. I pulled out a ton of quotes to list in my review and I decided that I really didn’t want to pull them out of context for those that are going to read the book. But I will give you my favorite quote from the book: “Porn always made this look so easy. The guy had a cock the size of a ham hock? No problem! Just shove it right up that chick’s ass—hell, she could probably take it in her nostril if you push hard enough.”

And finally.....the scariest thing in the book? Learning that Miley Cyrus songs survived the zombie apocalypse. For fuck’s sake. ;)

*ARC provided by the author