Review: By The Book

By the Book by Scarlett Parrish

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Three words: Daniel Fucking Cross

But....more about him later.

And before I get into the review of THIS book, let me mention the previous book I read by Scarlett Parrish - Long Time Coming (LOVED IT). The only thing I wasn’t happy with was the lack of an epilogue. Well - you get the epilogue in this book!! Ok, so it’s not a real epilogue, it’s just a few sentences. BUT, at least I know where Piper and Leo are headed! Swoon.....

But, back to By The Book....

It starts out with (seemingly) mild mannered librarian Reece at work and in walks author Daniel Cross (yea, THAT one). He's there to do some work on his latest book, but there seems to be a spark between him and Reece. A spark of what, Reece isn't exactly sure. You know, since he is hetero and has a girlfriend and all. So then we have "mild mannered" Reece celebrating his birthday with his girlfriend, Georgia. Her gift to him? A threeway with her BFF, Sarah. Oh yea. So obviously Mr. Reece McVanillasex isn't so vanilla after all. This is when you know things are probably gonna get freaky-deaky with Daniel Fucking Cross at some point. (At least, in my filthy mind, I was hoping they would.) Ah, Daniel Cross - he wears guyliner, writes books, and is pretty sure he is God’s gift to anyone with a pulse.

So, of course, eventually, Reece and Daniel strike up a friendship and they dance around the unspoken attraction, and eventually Reece confesses that his bedroom activities are, shall we say, open minded. And also mentions that he and his girlfriend wouldn't be opposed to bringing in Daniel for some happy fun sexy times. (YES!) And it’s a threeway that is totally hot. The sexual tension that sparks between Reece and Daniel is delicious, even with Georgia in the room and Reece pretending there isn’t any sexual tension there. Wowza.

After their threeway, Georgia decides she wants another go at Daniel. And, of course, Reece agrees. So one night, he heads to Daniel’s apartment to discuss this with him. This meeting ends in a hot kiss between the two men. Reece’s first kiss from a man, actually. And I love this quote from Daniel: “Well, for your fist time, that wasn’t bad, and let’s face it, if the first man you kiss is Daniel Cross, you struck gold there.” Gah. I love a cocky man. (Tee hee - cocky) And what follows shortly after this is, perhaps, one of my favorite scenes in the book. And one of the hottest. Reece, alone in the shower, while thinking about Daniel. Either I’ve never read a masturbation scene in another book or this one was so real and so hot that it wiped the others from my mind. But yea. Reece, jacking off to thoughts of Daniel Fucking Cross was H.O.T.

Things start to get messy with Reece tells Georgia that Daniel kissed him while they were at Daniel’s apartment. Georgia gets pissed and Reece feels a little blindsided. I mean, he’s seen her fuck other dudes. He’s seen her with other chicks. She’s seen him with other chicks......but him kissing a dude that they’ve both been naked with is suddenly off limits? I mean, I understand her reasoning - she wasn’t there - but still. Double standard, much? Geo and Reece essentially breakup and Reece ends up at Daniel’s. And finally (FINALLY) Reece and Daniel get it on. Daniel finally gets what he’s been wanting all along - buttsecks from Reece. And while it takes a little longer for Reece to agree to getting buttsecks from Daniel (he thought he was hetero, remember) - they finally do go there. And it is just as hot as you can imagine it to be. How could it NOT be? It’s Daniel Fucking Cross.

The thing that I was most torn with in this book was Georgia. One part of me wanted to feel sorry for her because she is the jilted lover. Technically, her boyfriend cheated on her and eventually left her for another man. (Even though he tried to avoid that by offering that they all live happily ever after as a trio, but Georgia wasn’t down for that.) Then on the other hand, Georgia and Reece (as a couple) often brought a third party into the bedroom. It’s foolish to think that (eventually) someone is going to have feelings that venture out of the “it’s just hot monkey sex” zone. And, unfortunately for Geo, it happened with Daniel and Reece. For the longest time, I really hoped that Georgia would agree to being part of a threesome. I guess it was me feeling sorry for her, and not wanting to see her heart broken. But in reality, I could only see Reece ending up with one person - Daniel Fucking Cross. And I can’t even hate on Reece like I want to. I want to think he’s an absolutely bastard for what he did to Georgia. I want to hate him. But I can’t. He fought his attraction to Daniel. Didn’t want to want him. But in the end, the heart wants what it wants and it doesn’t always agree with our head. So how can you be mad at someone for what they couldn’t help? If Georgia can understand that, then so can I.

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the best thing about Scarlett Parrish’s writing....her ability to write internal dialogue and spoken dialogue and have them flow together so effortlessly. I love that the most about her books, well, that and the smoking hot sex scenes! I can’t wait for more from her!

Plus - Daniel Fucking Cross. (Just had to throw that in one more time.)

Review: Long Time Coming

Long Time Coming by Scarlett Parrish

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I have to get this off my chest first - WTF??? NO EPILOGUE???

Ok. Now I feel better.

So - I fucking loved this book with every fiber of my being. And I'm pretty sure, ok, so I'm totally positive, that Leo Carson has completely ruined me for actual guys. He's perfect. Not so perfect as to be unrealistic, I mean, his tears don't cure cancer or anything. But if I were to write a list of what I wanted in a guy....after having read this book....I would just need to write "Leo Carson from the book Long Time Coming."

Piper and Leo randomly meet at a bar and exchange numbers. Piper, having just gotten out of a relationship with the #1 Douchbag ever - and THEN having slept with the best friend of her brother who shouted that he was in love with her as he was climaxing - well, let's just say that Piper wasn't exactly looking for Mr. Right. But she was looking for Mr. Right Now. And if Leo called - she would have no problem letting him be Mr. No-Strings-Attached-Hot-Monkey-Sex guy. And Leo called. And they hooked up - and proceeded to have a one night stand that lasted for 36 hours. (FYI - The sex in the book might have just been some of the hottest scenes I have read. Ever. And yea - go look at the stuff I read.....that's saying a lot!)

So, Mr. Leo Perfect Guy says and does all the right things. He treats Piper well - which she obviously isn't used to. And because of her own insecurities and need to not be vulnerable, she almost fucks it up. For most of the book, I wanted to smack Piper Holt repeatedly. I wanted to scream at her to wake up and take what this man is offering you! Stop being a dumb ass. Then started thinking, no one is this dumb. No one is this blind to a man's affections. But you know what....I remembered a situation I was in years ago. I was sorta dating this guy that really liked me.....I let my insecurities kill the it. I did everything in my power to push that man away. I pushed him away before he had the chance to push me away. I was stupid. I was Piper Holt. (Without the 36 hour hot monkey sex session, unfortunately.) After remembering my own personal situation, I stopped wanted to smack Piper - but instead was screaming at her to FIX THIS!! It's not too late, girl!! It was too late for me to fix my stupid, but it's not too late for you!!!

Ok. Well. I didn't mean to get all personal there, but yea, I related to Piper more than I care to admit to. Her inner dialogue was so well written and so real - I wanted to smack her and hug her all at once.

And Leo. sigh There are no words. If this character is based on a real person....I need his phone number. And a passport. And an airline ticket to England. RIGHT NOW. I need to find this man.

Edit:  Itty bitty bit of an epilogue to this story is found in By The Book.  Squeeee!  (My review for that one is coming soon!)

Review: Plus One

Plus One by Scarlett Parrish

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

At the opening of the book, we meet Lydia. She's having trouble finding a job - probably because she has long bright pink hair. She's just getting started at an interview for a job in a university library when she's interrupted by Dr. Spencer Flynn. His copying machine is broken and he can't translate the shorthand notes that were left for him. Luckily for Dr. Spencer, Lydia CAN read shorthand, so she offers to do the transcription for him. And of course, it doesn't look too shabby for her interview that she's being so helpful before she even has the job.

Right from the start, Lydia and Spencer have this smartass banter back and forth between them. They seem immediately drawn to each other, maybe more out of curiosity than anything. She's a beautiful 23 year old with pink hair who is looking for a job; he's a 42 year old professor of math geekiness. Of course, there's nothing about that that says "ideal couple", but if you've ever read a romance novel, you know it won't be long before they're having some hot monkey math nerd sex.

After Lydia fixes a copier, transcribes shorthand notes, and finishes her interview, Spencer gives her a ride home in his candy apple red mustang. When they arrive at her apartment, they chat for a little while before Spencer gives Lydia the sexiest kiss I've ever read about. I'm telling you, the genius in Scarlett Parrish's writing is her ability to write the unspoken along with the spoken. Writing them in such a way that they flow together so perfectly that you're completely caught up in the experience and the feelings of what the characters are going through.

You know the hot kiss isn’t going to be enough for either of them. Eventually Spencer pays Lydia a visit at her apartment and they have hot couch sex. Which turns into a blowjob in his office at work (Lydia DID get the job, obviously), which turns into them being in a relationship where the sex is incredibly hot all the time, although Lydia doesn’t know how to define what they’re doing. Are they boyfriend and girlfriend? What? She’s totally into him, but she somehow doesn’t feel as if he is as into her. She’s constantly questioning the things he does - like, he takes her to a restaurant out of town.....she thinks it’s because he’s embarrassed to be seen with her. Chalk it all up to insecurity and a lack of communication, but we’ve all been there. We’ve all dated that guy that we felt was too good to be true and in turn, we questioned his every action and his motives - just looking for a problem. And if there is a shortage of problems, we’ll just start creating them in our head. Yea - we’ve all been there, done that. Lydia is no exception. But their relationship continues on, and they make plans to go out IN town, but at the last minute Spencer cancels. A family member is sick, he says. Of course, Lydia doesn’t exactly believe that. This is when her self-doubt really starts eating away at her relationship. She feels slighted and ignored.

After this, Spencer calls her and wants to talk. She thinks he wants to have THE talk....they one where he says they can’t see each other any more. Come to find out, that isn’t the case at all. Spencer confesses that he has a seven year old son - and that is who was sick. He knew that she thought he was lying when he cancelled their date, and he wanted to reassure her that he wasn’t. Lydia doesn’t quite know how to take the news about the son. Immediately she feels that she’ll never be as important to Spencer as his son, Lucas, is. (Which is so selfish of her.) She feels like she’ll never be more than 2nd place in his heart. (Lydia, can I smack you now? Please?) He apologizes and tells her that he should have mentioned it before now, but he just didn’t know how.

Things continue along, and then when Lydia isn’t invited to be Spencer’s “plus one” to a gallery opening, she decides to buy a ticket and go with her gay BFF. She dyes her hair to its natrual color (which Spencer has always been dying to see), she gets all her fancy duds on and heads out to the party. At first she’s all blasé about it - and then Spencer spots her. AND. HE. LOSES. HIS. SHIT. Come to find out it was his babymama’s exhibit and Spencer was there with his son. And yea, Spencer acts like a bastard. I understand why he was mad, but damn it, the way he talked to Lydia made me want to smack him. And even though I can understand why he was mad that she came to the gallery, he was disrespectful to her. Very disrespectful. And of course, this spells the end of their love affair....temporarily, at least.

Some time passes and Spencer shows up at Lydia’s house to apologize and talk it out with her. They end up having “we’re still sorta mad at each other” sex (which is always hot), and he does apologize. Several times. But for Lydia, it’s not enough. He disrespected her in public - in front of his colleagues - and some private hot nookie isn’t equal to the public humiliation and she sends Spencer on his way, their relationship is finally over. (Yea, right....)

Eventually, Spencer does what Lydia (secretly or not so secretly) wanted all along - he publicly acknowledges her in a way that can leave no room for doubt that he is not even remotely embarrassed by her. He does it in front of a room full of his students - knowing that the college grapevine will have the news spread far and wide within hours. He calls the library and has her bring over a book and then once she’s in front of his class, he proceeds to invite her to dinner with his parents and his son. (Swoon) At first she doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing, and then she gets it and she agrees to dinner. He sends he away with a short note, written in shorthand, that he needs transcribed. And apparently the letter - just three sentences long - was just want she needed to hear.

Damn it, y’all - there is no epilogue! AGH! I really hate that I’m so damn needy that I have to know - in writing - what happens after the characters find their HEA. I like it spelled out for me in black and white. And really, I would LOVE to know what the note said! Scarlett....you reading this?? What did the note say?? I mean, I can guess what it said. But geezums, I need to know!

Despite my pathetic need to always have one more chapter.....I loved this fucking book so much. I love a plucky heroine who is a bit different, has a strong character, and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. I might have wanted to smack her at times, but it’s always easier to judge someone’s actions when you’re not in their shoes. At the end of the day, Scarlett Parrish writes characters that are so fully fleshed out that I care enough to want to scream at them and tell them to communicate and just work it the fuck out and be happy.