Review: Sugar and Spice (#1)

Sugar and Spice by Mari Carr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ginny is turning 30 and she just got dumped by her douchey boyfriend. In steps Travers, her best friend since childhood. He agrees to take her out for some birthday fun - at an exclusive sex club that she's been dying to go to. Once they arrive at the club, Ginny spots the douchey boyfriend all up in some blonde bimbo's fake tits. To comfort her, Travers says all the right things and then takes her back to his private room for some, um, fun.

I love a good best-friend-turned-lover story, but they only work when we get to see the friendship first. That's the element of this book that just made me giddy. I loved the friendship between all of the characters. Ginny is the lone girl in a group of three guys. They've all been BFFs since childhood, and now they all work together. Travers has always had the hots for Ginny, but he never admitted it to himself or anyone else. Too bad....everyone else sort of already knew. Well, except for Ginny. Ginny had always sort of had a thing for him too. (Damn it, these kids and their failure to communicate!) There are several great flashbacks to their childhoods that do a good job in establishing not only the deep friendship and love the four have for each other - it also shows that there was something all along between Ginny and Travers, if you read between the lines.

I absolutely love all of the characters that were introduced in this book, so it makes me quite happy to know that we'll be seeing this world continue to expand in the form of a series. (YEA!!)

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: Erotic Research (#1)

Erotic Research by Mari Carr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Julia and Ross have been coworkers and best friends for ten years. She is a best-selling romance novelist and he is her editor. But for those same ten years, Julia has been somewhat of a recluse - she hardly dates or goes out. Ever. And then her cat dies and she loses it.

To help her out of her funk, Ross suggests she try writing erotica and he gives her a ton of books and the keys to his mountain cabin so she can go do "research". But underneath his helpful exterior, Ross is plotting to seduce his best friend. He's been in love with her forever and he can't keep it from her any longer. BUT, he fears his somewhat kinky sexual tastes might scare the somewhat vanilla Julia.

While Julia is secluded in Ross's cabin during the winter, he drives up from the city for a surprise visit (and hopefully a seduction). Of course, they get snowed in together. And that's when things really begin to heat up. (bad pun, *rimshot*)

The sex is, whoa, incredibly hot. And about as un-vanilla as you can get! While it starts off as "research"....or at least that's what Julia thinks....it quickly turns into so much more. What these two crazy kids had was a failure to communicate! Both have always had the hots for the other one, but neither of them ever had the balls to admit it. But I swear, during the story....I just wanted to slap them both to make them confess their feelings to each other. They're bubbling just barely below the surface....it's the subtext of every word they say to each other.....and yet it goes unsaid for so long! It's so frustrating as a reader, but as frustrating as it is.....it's that much more satisfying when their feelings true finally do come out.

I can't think of a hotter fantasy than best friend turned love of your life. And if said best friend-turned-true love can also manage to give you the best sex of your life....well, that's all just icing on the cake, baby.

Review: Black Jack

Black Jack by Mari Carr

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was not the pirate story I was expecting. Black Jack tells two different stories, sort of. It features Jack and Emma.....two lifelong best friends. Emma manages a fetish club, called Scoundrels. The third guy in their BFF trio, Travis, owns the club. So Emma calls in Jack to fill in as an actor in a pirate fantasy show they're doing at the club. The male actor called in sick - and as Emma is helping Jack through the scene, they find out that the female lead has also called in sick - forcing Emma to take over that role. As the two best friends are rehearsing the scene, some of their not-so-well-hidden feelings for each other come to the forefront and their rehearsal leads to some hot dry humping and fondling and eventually Emma has a powerful orgasm. Naturally, this could be a somewhat awkward situation for two lifelong BFFs who have never gone past the "just friends" stage.

After their performance in the pirate fantasy, it become clear that they can't be "just friends" anymore. Both confess that they've always had feelings for each other - and actually - that they are in love with each other - and they move quite smoothly into the girlfriend/boyfriend roles.

The pirate part of the story is told as a fantasy in each of their minds - a fantasy that was inspired by their fantasy play at the club. It seems like both stories wouldn't work together, but they do.....so effortlessly. And really, who hasn't had a pirate fantasy? Geez. H.O.T.

But there's more to it than that. Jack is into some kinky stuff - sex in public (which is why he agreed to sub for the actor in the first place), whips, chains, wax play....all kinds of stuff. Stuff he didn't think that Vanilla Emma would be down with. Oh, but was he wrong. But he has a thick skull....and it takes him a while to believe that Emma really is into it all.

I know this story is the first of a two part series - and thank goodness, because I need for Travis (the 3rd BFF) to find his HEA. He prefers to shy away from the crowd and he likes to watch the activities in his club from the two way mirror in his top floor office. He also like to get off while he watches, so his story should be quite interesting.

I loved everything about Black Jack. I thought it was sweet without being sugary and incredibly hot without being unrealistic. And besides that, who hasn't had the fantasy that their perfect mate and the love of their life will turn out to be a best friend who has been there all along and who knows you better than anyone. Throw in pirates - and good Lord - it's kind of the perfect scenario.

My only complaint (sort of) is that the story is just too short. But I always say that with any novella that I love. I always want more; I'm selfish like that. The thing I love about Mari Carr's stories is that the characters are always fully fleshed out, despite the fact that the story is novella-length. You know who these people are and you care about them, and really, if wanting to know more about these people because I find them so compelling is the only thing I have to complain about, well, then, I think that's OK.

Review: Spitfire

Spitfire by Mari Carr

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this short story. I really did. But the truth is, I sort of hated it. The "hero" was a complete asshole of caveman proportions. I get that he was into spanking and such. But his spankings came across like he was actually punishing the "heroine", rather than just spanking her for some sexy bedroom fun. I don't mind the men in my books being dominate. I'll admit, it's kind of hot. And authors that write about these types of men do walk that fine line of dominate sexy male versus caveman douchebag asshole. Our hero, Rem, came across as the 2nd type. As a result of the caveman hero, I didn't even find the sex hot.

I'm disappointed. This was the first Mari Carr book that I didn't love. Boo-hiss-grrr. So mad.

Review: Because Of You

Because Of You by Mari Carr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was definitely a shorter story that was begging to be a full length novel. The plot and characters were great, although the bad guy in the piece was not a shock at all. I think if the book had been fleshed out into a full length book, the story surrounding the bad guy could have been built up more and it would have been more of a surprise.

So, the story focuses on Jessie, a young widow, who is not convinced that her husband's "accidental" death was an accident. She begins asking questions and doing her own investigating and soon she begins receiving phone calls and threats....she gets mugged.....and her apartment is broken into. To get away from it all, she goes and stays with her gay BFF in a little town about 3 hours away. While on vacay, she meets Caleb at a party. They both have a little too much to drink and Caleb walks her home.....and they have some tipsy hot sex on the kitchen counter.

Even though Jessie feels it's too soon to hop back into another relationship (it's only been 8 months since her husband died), she can't help the attraction she feels to Caleb.

But the vacay ends and Jessie goes home and resumes her investigation into her husband's death. The threats against her continue and she ends up moving to the town where her BFF (and Caleb lives). After a car accidents thrusts her back into Caleb's life....they both come to realize that they can't fight the feelings they have for each other.

Like I said, I would have loved for this short to be a full length novel. I think the characters deserved that. But as it is, it's a great short story (albeit, predictable)....and I completely fell in love with Jessie and Caleb. And while this book didn't have as much of the crazy hot monkey sex that Mari Carr's books usually have....what it did have was enough.

Loved it. Solid 4 stars.

Review: Scoring

Scoring by Mari Carr

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Meh. I don't have much to say about this short story. Hunky high school football coach has the hots for the high school choir director. And they have hot monkey sex. That's all fine and good.....and I'm even willing to accept the speed of the "relationship" due to the short length of this piece. BUT - where it fell apart for me is when the story turned into "let's see how many sports related sexual innuendos and double entendres we can fit in here". If there's one sure way to make my girl-wood go limp - it's to start talking about sports. Even if you're really not talking about sports. If you say touchdown but you mean you just had a powerful orgasm.....I probably stopped listening after I was distracted by the word touchdown.

3 stars - but only because I LOVE Mari Carr's writing (and I can't stand to give her anything lower than a 3). And it did sorta start out as a hot little story.

Review: Do Over

Do Over by Mari Carr

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Good. Lord. I. Loved. This. Book.

It's super short - so it's a quick read. I know sometimes it's hard for a short book to really give you a feel for the characters and make you understand them. That wasn't a problem with this book. It was shocking how well developed the characters actually were, given the length of the piece.

The story focuses on Faith and Troy, a couple who has been happily married for 25 years. Recently, their youngest child left for college - and for the first time in a long time, they are alone. Faith is feeling the pains of an empty nest. To cheer her up, Troy suggests they go home.....to their hometown where their parents still live.....and where they met and fell in love.

Faith is sort of having a pity party with her mom.....the kids are gone, she's lonely, Troy is Mr. Happy-go-lucky, etc. She's not unhappy in her marriage....she just doesn't know what to do now that she doesn't have to parent every single day. Suddenly Troy come in (she thinks he's been out golfing with his Dad) and hands her a bag and tells her to go upstairs and change. Faith is confused, but she does it. When she gets upstairs, she realizes that the bag contains Troy's old high school letterman jacket. Still confused, but curious, she leaves with Troy and he proceeds to take her around the town to all of the places where they had their "firsts" and their momentous moments - where they shared their first kiss, where he proposed, the church where they got married, their honeymoon suite at the hotel, etc.

OMG. While I loved every single thing about this story - it also pissed me off because I am not convinced that a man like Troy exists. Cause Troy is fucking perfect. The sweetest, most romantic, sexiest.....you name it. And to boot - he is still totally, head over heels in love with his wife, even after 2 kids and 25 long years of marriage.

Beautiful story, hot sex, and it's nice to read a romance novel that doesn't involve a bunch of crazy shit. It's just your average married crazy hot passionate romantic loving erotic monkey sex.

I loved this book. 5+ stars.