Review: Enamored

Review: EnamoredEnamored: The Submissive Mistress (The Erotic Adventures of Jane in the Jungle #5) by Colette Gale
Published by Avid Press on May 16, 2014
Genres: Erotica, Historical
Pages: 160
Goodreads
five-stars

FINAL DECISION: My favorite of the series. This one is dark and double the length of the other books so we get development in the the whacked relationship between Jane and Kellan which began in the first book in the series. This book moves the story forward besides being filled with many and various sexual escapades.

THE STORY: Jane has returned to London with Kellan Darkdale who has the evidence to clear her father from murder. Kellan requires that Jane consent to be his submissive mistress in order to gain his cooperation.  Parted from her beloved Zaren, Jane hopes to find a way to free herself from Kellan’s clutches and return to Zaren.

OPINION: This is a crazy series. This is my favorite of the series because its expanded length allows the development of Jane’s crazy relationship with Kellan, Zaren’s development as a real character and some resolution to the threads of the series so far. This book, like the others, does end on a cliffhanger, but this book feels like the end of part one of the series.

This series is not for everyone. There is non-consensual sex and Jane enjoys those encounters.

This book is one of the darkest in the series and the most developed as Kellan and Jane have a relationship that has spanned several books in the series. Unlike the other encounters, this one feels more developed. I don’t expect great storylines and characters from this series but rather this is pure entertainment and erotic adventures.

WORTH MENTIONING: This series contains various sex acts, both consensual and non-consensual, with multiple people both men and women. Each book ends on a cliffhanger and therefore the series is meant to be read together.

CONNECTED BOOKS: ENAMORED is the fifth book in the Erotic Adventures of Jane in the Jungle series. These are a series of serialized stories so they are meant to be read together and in order.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

five-stars

Review: Enticed

Review: EnticedEnticed: An Erotic Sacrifice (The Erotic Adventures of Jane in the Jungle, #4) by Colette Gale
Published by Avid Press on May 16, 2014
Genres: Erotica, Historical
Pages: 70
Goodreads
four-stars

FINAL DECISION: This one is a bit repetitive of the previous book in the series, but I liked how Jane and Zaren begin to acknowledge their feelings for one another. This is pure entertainment and escapism and shouldn’t be taken seriously as it is just crazy stuff.

THE STORY: After an attempted escape, Jane and her wild jungle man Zaren are captured by the native villagers. Jane agrees to submit to the desires of the villagers in exchange for them helping the injured Zaren.

OPINION: In this book, Jane is used as a sex toy by various couples in the village. This is my least favorite in the series, but I did like the development of Jane and Zaren’s relationship. Jane is willing to sacrifice herself for Zaren and he will do the same for her.

Once again, these stories are really crazy sauce and can’t be examined in a serious fashion. If you are not willing to suspend disbelief, then this story will not work for you. It’s all crazy erotic sex with a romance story between Jane and Zaren — but lots of sex with other people, in various combinations, along the way.

WORTH MENTIONING: This book contains both consensual and non-consensual sex with both men and women. The story, like all in this series, ends on a cliffhanger.

CONNECTED BOOKS: ENTICED is the fourth book in the Erotic Adventures of Jane in the Jungle. This is a serialized story so the books should be read in order.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.

four-stars

Review: Enthralled

Review: EnthralledEnthralled: The Sex Goddess (The Erotic Adventures of Jane in the Jungle, #3) by Colette Gale
Published by Avid Press on September 27, 2013
Genres: Erotica, Historical
Pages: 62
Goodreads
four-half-stars

FINAL DECISION: The sexcapades are increased here when Jane is taken hostage by a villages who sees her as a fertility goddess. Once again, this story contains consensual and non-consensual erotic encounters. I find Jane’s adventures entertaining and this one has more relationship building with Zaren.

THE STORY: Jane and her fiance are taken hostage by a native village who believe that Jane is a fertility goddess who can solve their reproduction problems. Her sexual prowess must be on public display. Zaren tries to find out what happened to Jane and to rescue her.

OPINION: Jane’s adventures continue in this book where she encounters an entire village of people who want to explore her sexuality. She has encounters here with men and women. This story is purely entertainment and is not really intended to be taken seriously. I mean she ends up having sex instead of escaping when given the opportunity! I find these stories entertaining and escapism. The entirety of the story is told tongue in cheek with crazier and more unrealistic episodes each time.

This one is notable because we get to see more of Zaren and get to see his commitment to Jane. Despite all Jane’s sexual exploits, there remains a connection between Zaren and Jane. Don’t read these books if you are going to examine them closely, you will be disappointed.

WORTH MENTIONING: This book contains non-consensual sexual encounters where Jane enjoys the experiences even as she does not consent to them. Each book in this series is short (60-70 pages) and ends on a cliffhanger as the story is told in serialized form.

CONNECTED BOOKS: ENTHRALLED is the third book in the Erotic Adventures of Jane in the Jungle series. This is a serialized story where every novella is connected and telling one story. Each book ends on a cliffhanger. The books are meant to be read together.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

four-half-stars

Review: Entangled

Review: EntangledEntangled: An Unexpected Menage (The Erotic Adventures of Jane in the Jungle, #2) by Colette Gale
Published by Avid Press on April 8, 2012
Genres: Erotica, Historical
Pages: 71
Goodreads
four-stars

FINAL DECISION: Definitely erotica with lots of sex and little character development. The best developed storyline is Jane’s developing relationship with the wild man. These books are entertaining but are not intended to be realistic.

THE STORY: Jane’s fiance has returned from the dead with some secrets. Jane also again meets the wild man living in the jungle.

OPINION: These stories are not for everyone. There is lots of sexual escapades — including non-consensual ones — but all are ones that Jane finds pleasure in. I know that this will be offensive to some people, but that is the way the story develops. If such things bother you, I really suggest passing on this story. Jane begins her journey of abandoning her Victorian morals in full here as she has sexual experiences with three different men including a menage.

There is an interesting contrast between Jane’s sexual adventures and her developing romantic relationship with the wild man. Once again, this story is pure sexual entertainment and fantasy.

WORTH MENTIONING: This series is serialized meaning that the stories are not complete in one book. Each book ends on a cliffhanger.

CONNECTED BOOKS: ENTANGLED is the second book in the Erotic Adventures of Jane in the Jungle series. These books should be read in order.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.

four-stars

Review: Entwined

Review: EntwinedEntwined (The Erotic Adventures of Jane in the Jungle, #1) by Colette Gale
Published by Avid Press on January 23, 2012
Genres: Erotica, Historical
Pages: 68
Goodreads
four-stars

FINAL DECISION: Definitely a guilty pleasure, but a fun, erotic read. Tarzan story told from Jane’s point of view with lots of sex.

THE STORY: Jane Clemons comes to the jungle with her father. This is the place where her fiance disappeared three years ago. Now Jane has come along with her fiance’s friend Kellan Darkdale but he seems to be pursuing her whether she wants him to or not. Jane also encounters a wild man who calls to her in ways she doesn’t expect.

OPINION: This story isn’t particularly deep and the relationships in it are not really romantic ones, but I do enjoy this book and the series as a whole. The story is definitely erotica with plenty of sex with various partners. In this book, Jane is a not-so-uptight Victorian woman who has a past with her fiance, but still clings to some of the strictures of the age. She is being pursued by a man who she doesn’t want and finds herself intrigued by the jungle man. This is the tamest of the books as it sets up some of the relationships and storylines in the series.

I enjoy the book which doesn’t really take itself seriously and instead it feels like a fun, entertaining read with no expectations and no serious messages.

WORTH MENTIONING: This is a serialized story meaning that these are short novellas and each ends on a cliffhanger and continues with the same characters into a new book. The story is not complete here so you have to be committed to the entire series.

CONNECTED BOOKS: ENTWINED is the first book in the Erotic Adventures of Jane in the Jungle.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4 stars.

four-stars

Review: The Choice

Review: The ChoiceThe Choice (Doms of Her Life: Heavenly Rising 1) by Isabella LaPearl, Jenna Jacob, Shayla Black
Published by Dream Words, LLC on March 27th 2018
Genres: Contemporary, Erotica
Goodreads
five-stars

“It’s going to get messy, emotional, and complicated. I hope you’re ready for that.”

FINAL DECISION: Hot, hot, hot. Just the beginning of the story between Beck, Seth and Heavenly, but definitely a great start. (Readers should be aware that this book ends on the cliffhanger, and there will be more books about this threesome).

THE STORY: Heavenly Young has a complicated life. She is a new nursing student, she is caring for her ill father and she is taking any job she can to make ends meet. Things become even more complicated when she catches the eyes of two dominate alpha men — both of whom want her but cannot stand one another. Dr. Ken Beckman is a surgeon who also happens to be a sadist. Having a relationship with an innocent and sweet woman is against all his rules, but Beck can’t stop himself from obsessing over Heavenly. Seth Cooper, private eye, takes one look at the sweet Heavenly and wants her in bed. But Seth finds himself drawn in by the woman he begins to know. Torn between two men who want her to make a choice between them, Heavenly cannot bring herself to choose.

OPINION: I really enjoyed this one. After reading the first trio romance by these authors, I knew to expect the cliffhanger and thus I wasn’t disappointed by the ending and the loose ends. And I think I love this couple more than Raine, Liam and Macen (DOMS OF HER LIFE) because the two men here are so funny in their competition with one another. This book feels lighter and more amusing and while there is clearly drama to come, I’m hoping that some of the humor remains.

Heavenly was slightly annoying to me as this book began. Too naive, too willing to lie to hide things that aren’t particularly worth hiding, but as the book continues I begin to see the woman who will be emerging as the series continues. (I also have to admit that her naivete made for some amusing situations). I think at some point, she is going to pull her two men by the ears (or another unmentionable part) and force them to her will.

Beck and Sean are similar men in many ways. They both clearly have some darkness in their pasts that are going to arise as the series continues, but here I found the guys funny and sweetly baffled by Heavenly. These guys are also intensely competitive and nowhere set up for the idea of a long term menage relationship. In many ways, this first book is about “the choice” that these men have to make.

I appreciated that this book allows the relationships to build in a slow fashion. Everyone is introduced and we really get the chance to see what Heavenly sees in each of these guys and also see these men begin to build a friendship with one another.

The book is hot, but I didn’t find the sex to be the focus here. It really was about relationship. The highlight was the heat and the humor. Even the cliffhanger was a gentle one so I can look forward to the next book instead of cursing the ending.

WORTH MENTIONING: This is a mmf menage with the focus on the woman in the story. The two men are not involved with one another.

CONNECTED BOOKS: THE CHOICE is the first book in the Doms of Her Life: Heavenly Rising series. This series is, however, connected with the Doms of Her Life series and partially takes place concurrent with that series. You can read this one without having read that series, but there are overlapping characters. And this menage is even introduced in that series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC of this book via the author in order to prepare a review. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

 

five-stars

Review: Misadventures of a Valedictorian

Review: Misadventures of a ValedictorianMisadventures of a Valedictorian by M.F. Wild, Mia Michelle
Series: Misadventures #7
Published by Waterhouse Press on November 14th 2017
Genres: Erotica
Pages: 300
Goodreads
five-stars

FINAL DECISION: This story is just crazy erotica with a simple, fun college experimentation storyline. I enjoyed this book so much because it isn’t trying to be a deep romance but just a fun set of erotic pieces.

THE STORY: Clare Winston spent years dreaming of the high school quarterback Eric Hayward. At the end of high school, the two finally have a connection but as the two go on to college, they both have growing and experimenting to do. Can the two keep their connection amidst all the adventures they are seeking to explore?

OPINION: This is just a fun erotic read. It’s not deep or thought provoking, but I enjoyed every page. This is the story of two young adults who get together at the end of high school and spend the first half of their freshman year in college experimenting sexually.

Clare starts out this book as a virgin but quickly starts getting experience. In fact, the book’s premise is that the hero is allowing her to have the freedom to experiment in college in the same way he did in high school.

I just enjoyed the fun encounters which seem like a series of vignettes of hot little sexual encounters. There is also a nice thread of caring between the hero and heroine. It takes the experimentation seriously and both characters experience jealousy and doubts. But this book never goes dark. Almost everything is kept light and in a easy.

This book takes the moniker misadventures seriously and I enjoyed it as a guilty pleasure.

WORTH MENTIONING: There is a lot of sex in this one — and the majority is not between the hero and heroine. There is mmf, mmmf, mff and various sexual encounters between the hero or heroine with other people.

CONNECTED BOOKS: MISADVENTURES OF A VALEDICTORIAN is the seventh book in the Misadventures series. This series consists of complete standalone books that have no overlapping characters or settings.

STAR RATING: I give this book 5 stars.

five-stars

Review: Misadventures on the Night Shift

I received this book for free from Netgalley in order to prepare an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.


Review: Misadventures on the Night ShiftMisadventures on the Night Shift (Misadventures, #6) by Lauren Rowe
Series: Misadventures #6
Published by Waterhouse Press on November 7th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Erotica
Pages: 280
Goodreads
two-half-stars

FINAL DECISION: This book was a disappointment. I really loved this book until we got to the conclusion. I just didn’t buy the resolution at all. Too fast, too much left unresolved and there needed to be something more for the book to work for me.

THE STORY: Abby Medford is working as a night clerk in a hotel when she thinks her teenage fantasies have come true. Rock star Lucas Ford checks into the penthouse and notices her. After a rough start, the two find erotic playtime together combined with an emotional connection for two people searching for meaning in their lives.

OPINION: I liked so much of this book that I was really let down by the ending. Abby and Lucas are a hot lusty pair and their interactions range from intense fighting to emotional connection. I thought the connection between them was strong and I really enjoyed the heat in this book.

Abby is a woman who likes the bad boys but is trying to be good and build a life — even if it isn’t the one she actually wants. She works hard and goes to school but can’t get excited by a future that might be outwardly successful but doesn’t call to her.

Lucas is a rockstar who just doesn’t have the passion for what he does any more.

When the two meet, they bring something exciting and hopeful to one another. I loved that part of the story.

Ultimately, however, this book just didn’t work for me as a romance. I didn’t buy the resolution of the story between the hero and heroine. Too fast, too many complications, too much time apart and too many people involved. The resolution seemed more like an accident that might change in time rather than a happy ending.

WORTH MENTIONING: Warning for those who don’t like their hero and heroine having sex with other people after their supposed life changing “connection.” There is a also a menage scene.

CONNECTED BOOKS: MISADVENTURES ON THE NIGHT SHIFT is the sixth book in the Misadventures series, but each book is a complete standalone with no overlapping storyline, characters or content.

STAR RATING: I give this book 2.5 stars.

NOTE:  I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in order to provide a review. I was not required to write a review or a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

two-half-stars

Review: American King

Review: American KingAmerican King (New Camelot Trilogy, #3) by Sierra Simone
Series: New Camelot Trilogy #3
Published by Amazon Digital Services on October 31st 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Erotica
Pages: 456
Goodreads
four-stars

FINAL DECISION: I love the characters in this book and the crazy stuff that gets worked out, but honestly, I felt the series went down since the first book in the series. The ending was too contrived and completely without any possibility of reality that I felt a letdown for the entire series.

THE STORY: This book continues the story of Ash, Embry and Greer. As the book begins, Embry has broken from the trio as he has unwillingly impregnated Greer’s evil cousin and has decided that Ash is not doing enough to protect Greer. Embry intends to run against Ash for president. This book, as might be expected, focuses on Ash’s view of the events.

OPINION:  There was so much I loved about this book, but the ending was not among them. There is something really crazy and beautiful about this series just going for the most salacious romance — the President, Vice-President and the First Lady. There are so many mixes and measures that I couldn’t wait to see what incredible plot twist was next. The whole thing just felt so unreal and big. Using the mythology of King Arthur as the basis for the story allows this story to have its own mythic quality. Yes, the story is unreal on almost every page, but I loved that the spirit of the story embraced all the crazy plot twists that felt like a modern erotic soap opera. This book begins to unwind all the plots that were introduced in the first two books. Mostly, I enjoyed the possibilities. I also have always liked how this book uses love and passion and lust and jealousy and guilt in bigger than life ways.

But the ending just disappointed me. Too small, too neat, too implausible.  I expected everything to be blown wide open, but instead, the book ends in secrets and hiding. I just felt disappointed and once that happened, all the veneers of big drama just fell apart. Instead, I just kept asking questions about how things would actually work in reality and the entirety of the relationships just fell apart for me. Perhaps one day I will re-read this crazy adventure and see it differently, but I was sad that today I couldn’t walk away excited about the entire journey.

WORTH MENTIONING: I recommend this series because I think that people’s reaction to the ending will be personal and doesn’t diminish the wonderful crazy series.

CONNECTED BOOKS: AMERICAN KING is the third and final book in the New Camelot Trilogy. These books are meant to be read together in order.

STAR RATING I give this book 4 stars.

four-stars

Review: American Prince

Review: American PrinceAmerican Prince (New Camelot Trilogy, #2) by Sierra Simone
Series: New Camelot Trilogy #2
Published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform on March 7th 2017
Genres: Contemporary, Erotica
Pages: 330
Goodreads
four-stars

FINAL DECISION: Still super crazy and compelling, I thought this one suffered from the “middle book” syndrome where too much is being set up for the ending and thus while really good, it’s wasn’t quite as compelling as the first book.

THE STORY: This book begins where AMERICAN QUEEN ended. After the marriage of the President Ash to his wife Greer and the formalization of their menage relationship with Vice President Embry, Greer has been kidnapped. The remainder of the book is about the continuing threats the three face both from external factors, but also from the jealousies, fears, and history which threatens to tear them apart.

OPINION: This book is filled with drama and angst and so many unfinished issues that it was painful to read at parts. The book is clearly setting up the final book in the series and as such, it doesn’t read as well as a separate story. There is a real sense that this is one of the low points in the relationship as this book ends. That is expected and I suspect that once the final book is out this book will blend in perfectly. But it certainly leaves things in a bad spot that is hard to enjoy.

This story is so big and crazy and I am just compelled to read it. The relationship between these three characters is not restrained by any means. There are deep jealousies and anger and lust and love. Despite the love between these three characters, their relationship is not easy. There are past pains and deceit and fears between these characters. They are struggling not only against those issues but those who want to destroy them.

This book, as one might guess from the title, focuses primarily on Embry’s point of view (although not exclusively) and his past with Ash. We learn more about the love and pain that is part of the history of their relationship.

One of the best parts of this book is how seriously it takes the relationship between Ash, Greer and Embry. One might expect that if two people in a relationship is complicated, those issues are multiplied with the addition of one person. This book doesn’t shy away from those issues which makes this book compelling as to their interactions.

Now I just need to read what is going to happen with Ash’s book.

WORTH MENTIONING: This book ends on a cliffhanger.

CONNECTED BOOKS: AMERICAN PRINCE is the second book in the New Camelot Trilogy. This book continues from the cliffhanger in the first book and the books should be read together in order. The series follows the menage relationship between The President, Vice-President and the President’s wife.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

four-stars