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AJaneClark (3975 KP) rated Pucked Off (Pucked #5) in Books
May 30, 2020
Pucked Off is the story of the sweet and haunted Lance and sports physio Poppy. Lance met Poppy when he was at his lowest, recovering not only from a sports injury playing ice hockey, but also when he was struggling to recover from the emotional abuse that seemed to follow him through his life.
Whilst this is predominantly part of a comical and erotic driven romance series, there is something sweet about this edition to the series. It allows this kind genuine man, surrounded by his "family" of ice hockey players and their partners,getting the girl of his dreams, a girl who will nurture and support him even on his darkest days. But will it be smooth running? Will it be a happy ending?
Helena Hunting again demonstrates her sense of humour and wickedness with Pucked Off, leaving the reader in stitches whilst their heart melts. Really enjoyed this story and couldn't think of a cuter pair!
Whilst this is predominantly part of a comical and erotic driven romance series, there is something sweet about this edition to the series. It allows this kind genuine man, surrounded by his "family" of ice hockey players and their partners,getting the girl of his dreams, a girl who will nurture and support him even on his darkest days. But will it be smooth running? Will it be a happy ending?
Helena Hunting again demonstrates her sense of humour and wickedness with Pucked Off, leaving the reader in stitches whilst their heart melts. Really enjoyed this story and couldn't think of a cuter pair!
Mandy and G.D. Burkhead (26 KP) rated Hottest Blood: The Ultimate in Erotic Horror in Books
May 20, 2018
Shelf Life – Hottest Blood: The Ultimate in Erotic Horror is Neither of Those Things
(I’m gonna go ahead and throw a disclaimer on up here: You are about to read something that deals with purportedly “erotic” subject matter. If you don’t like the sound of that word, you might wanna go elsewhere. If it’s actually-erotic things that offend you, though, you’ll be fine.)
I like short story compilations because you get a variety of content that’s just as easy to breeze through if you have the time as it is to get to a stopping point and put down if you don’t. I like horror fiction because it usually involves the super-natural, which interests me, and intense emotional responses, which are almost always a good thing in writing. And I like eroticism because I am a warm-blooded human being with a pulse. However, on the whole, I do not like Hottest Blood.
I wanted to, I did. Look at that cover. It’s equal amounts scary and sexy, both in completely safe, PG-13-at-most kind of ways. Unfortunately, Softcore Succubus here is both the scariest and the sexiest thing about this book
Bluntly analogized, you know that feeling you get when you come across something on the internet that disturbs and/or disgusts you, and then you learn that there’s a dedicated group of people that gets off on it? Most of the stories in this book are that feeling captured in words.
Case in point, the story “Damaged Goods” by Elizabeth Massie, which as far as I can tell is about a couple of physically abused, emotionally damaged, developmentally stunted kids somewhere around their early teens who live with a religious fringe cult being led out to a field to have sex with each other while a nameless U.S. President watches and masturbates before both kids are drowned in a river by their preacher/pimp caretaker.
Or there’s “Mr. Right” by Chris Lacher, which tells the story of a college student named Russ who has a secret fetish for the deformed women in the freak show at a nearby carnival – a fascination which leads to him getting held down and forcibly raped by a group of unwashed subhuman mutants, which the detailed descriptions make sure you understand are completely revolting to all five senses. The story ends with him being dumped out behind the fairgrounds while a small, legless girl happily informs him that this is how all carnival workers reproduce, and he can look forward to seeing his own mutant rape-spawn in the show next year.
Or there’s “Abuse” by Matthew Costello, which simply shows us how the arrest of a Peewee Herman surrogate goes down in an adult movie theater before ending with another man jerking off with the cold, dry, severed hand in his pocket as he contemplates getting a new one to replace it.
The tone of these three are pretty much par for the course for the rest of the book: thoroughly disturbing, and sex is involved, but the disturbing feeling stems from revulsion rather than fear, and the sex bits are so far on the other end of the spectrum from erotic that it feels like the authors are trying to punish their readers for even expecting to be aroused in any way.
Of course, I said myself earlier that intense emotional responses are “almost always a good thing in writing.” By that merit alone, this book technically succeeds; in fact, if it had billed itself as shock fiction instead of erotic horror, I’d begrudgingly give it a medal in its class. The “aw, what the hell?!” moments are not as artistically executed as, say, a Chuck Palahniuk read, and they tend not to have as much depth to them, but strictly in terms of making you wish that you could unread words, they get the job done.
But that isn’t the job that Hottest Blood was hired to do, and that’s not what it put on its resume. It said it was going to “heat the blood and chill the mind,” and promised that “terror never felt this sexy!” It would have been more appropriate to say that “sex never felt this terrible.”
All of that said, if you abandon any hope of seeing anything resembling erotica or horror (scary horror, anyway), there are a few stories in here that are decent reads – mostly because they try to say something with their subject matter rather than use it to see how thoroughly they can ruin the idea of sex for the reader. To give a few quick nods of approval:
Nancy Holder’s “I Hear the Mermaids Singing,” which opens the anthology, is a dark and modern re-imagining of “The Little Mermaid” that brutally points up the drawbacks to throwing away your whole life and family in order to pursue someone that you know nothing about outside of a few fleeting glimpses and lustful inner fantasies.
J.L. Comeau’s “Black Cars” is the narrative of a high-class chauffeur as he tells his passenger an increasingly mysterious story about a couple of his regular customers, culminating in a creepy twist payoff that, in retrospect, actually makes it count as a legitimate horror story, and a decently gripping one at that.
And “Safe at Home” by Steve and Melanie Tem, while decidedly and disturbingly unsexy, at least has good reason to be; it’s a short character study of a young woman who’d been molested as a child, and the lasting and complex psychological damage resulting thereof that prevents her from having any normal social life or relationships, even with someone whom she legitimately likes, someone who knows what’s happened and sincerely cares for her.
So for the handful of intriguing stories that don’t make you quit (or wish you had) mid-read out of revolted disappointment, I can’t completely condemn Hottest Blood. If you want to test your own threshold for repulsion but are understandably hesitant to use online image searches to this end, I heartily recommend it.
If you are legitimately turned on by the idea of a man eating a woman alive and then gestating her alien spawn inside his own bloated body until his head detaches and crawls away (“How Deep the Taste of Love,” John Shirley), I suppose I still heartily recommend it, though I do so from a safe distance.
If you want to read one of the few stories involved that aren’t horrible, I heartily recommend trying to find them on their own somewhere else first.
But if you want “the ultimate in erotic horror,” stay the hell away. Softcore Succubus is a trap.
I like short story compilations because you get a variety of content that’s just as easy to breeze through if you have the time as it is to get to a stopping point and put down if you don’t. I like horror fiction because it usually involves the super-natural, which interests me, and intense emotional responses, which are almost always a good thing in writing. And I like eroticism because I am a warm-blooded human being with a pulse. However, on the whole, I do not like Hottest Blood.
I wanted to, I did. Look at that cover. It’s equal amounts scary and sexy, both in completely safe, PG-13-at-most kind of ways. Unfortunately, Softcore Succubus here is both the scariest and the sexiest thing about this book
Bluntly analogized, you know that feeling you get when you come across something on the internet that disturbs and/or disgusts you, and then you learn that there’s a dedicated group of people that gets off on it? Most of the stories in this book are that feeling captured in words.
Case in point, the story “Damaged Goods” by Elizabeth Massie, which as far as I can tell is about a couple of physically abused, emotionally damaged, developmentally stunted kids somewhere around their early teens who live with a religious fringe cult being led out to a field to have sex with each other while a nameless U.S. President watches and masturbates before both kids are drowned in a river by their preacher/pimp caretaker.
Or there’s “Mr. Right” by Chris Lacher, which tells the story of a college student named Russ who has a secret fetish for the deformed women in the freak show at a nearby carnival – a fascination which leads to him getting held down and forcibly raped by a group of unwashed subhuman mutants, which the detailed descriptions make sure you understand are completely revolting to all five senses. The story ends with him being dumped out behind the fairgrounds while a small, legless girl happily informs him that this is how all carnival workers reproduce, and he can look forward to seeing his own mutant rape-spawn in the show next year.
Or there’s “Abuse” by Matthew Costello, which simply shows us how the arrest of a Peewee Herman surrogate goes down in an adult movie theater before ending with another man jerking off with the cold, dry, severed hand in his pocket as he contemplates getting a new one to replace it.
The tone of these three are pretty much par for the course for the rest of the book: thoroughly disturbing, and sex is involved, but the disturbing feeling stems from revulsion rather than fear, and the sex bits are so far on the other end of the spectrum from erotic that it feels like the authors are trying to punish their readers for even expecting to be aroused in any way.
Of course, I said myself earlier that intense emotional responses are “almost always a good thing in writing.” By that merit alone, this book technically succeeds; in fact, if it had billed itself as shock fiction instead of erotic horror, I’d begrudgingly give it a medal in its class. The “aw, what the hell?!” moments are not as artistically executed as, say, a Chuck Palahniuk read, and they tend not to have as much depth to them, but strictly in terms of making you wish that you could unread words, they get the job done.
But that isn’t the job that Hottest Blood was hired to do, and that’s not what it put on its resume. It said it was going to “heat the blood and chill the mind,” and promised that “terror never felt this sexy!” It would have been more appropriate to say that “sex never felt this terrible.”
All of that said, if you abandon any hope of seeing anything resembling erotica or horror (scary horror, anyway), there are a few stories in here that are decent reads – mostly because they try to say something with their subject matter rather than use it to see how thoroughly they can ruin the idea of sex for the reader. To give a few quick nods of approval:
Nancy Holder’s “I Hear the Mermaids Singing,” which opens the anthology, is a dark and modern re-imagining of “The Little Mermaid” that brutally points up the drawbacks to throwing away your whole life and family in order to pursue someone that you know nothing about outside of a few fleeting glimpses and lustful inner fantasies.
J.L. Comeau’s “Black Cars” is the narrative of a high-class chauffeur as he tells his passenger an increasingly mysterious story about a couple of his regular customers, culminating in a creepy twist payoff that, in retrospect, actually makes it count as a legitimate horror story, and a decently gripping one at that.
And “Safe at Home” by Steve and Melanie Tem, while decidedly and disturbingly unsexy, at least has good reason to be; it’s a short character study of a young woman who’d been molested as a child, and the lasting and complex psychological damage resulting thereof that prevents her from having any normal social life or relationships, even with someone whom she legitimately likes, someone who knows what’s happened and sincerely cares for her.
So for the handful of intriguing stories that don’t make you quit (or wish you had) mid-read out of revolted disappointment, I can’t completely condemn Hottest Blood. If you want to test your own threshold for repulsion but are understandably hesitant to use online image searches to this end, I heartily recommend it.
If you are legitimately turned on by the idea of a man eating a woman alive and then gestating her alien spawn inside his own bloated body until his head detaches and crawls away (“How Deep the Taste of Love,” John Shirley), I suppose I still heartily recommend it, though I do so from a safe distance.
If you want to read one of the few stories involved that aren’t horrible, I heartily recommend trying to find them on their own somewhere else first.
But if you want “the ultimate in erotic horror,” stay the hell away. Softcore Succubus is a trap.
Suswatibasu (1703 KP) rated Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows in Books
Sep 13, 2017
Interesting, a little repetitive
I wasn't sure what to expect with this bizarrely named novel, and I was slightly worried it would be some Karma Sutra style book but it was nothing of the kind.
A group of old Punjabi women attend an English language class run by a British Asian young woman who mistakenly brings in an erotic book one day. It opens up a world of sensuous pleasure for the women, who are normally quite conservative about such topics.
While it's quite a novelty and funny at the beginning, the stories become repetitive and it becomes a little boring. The honour crime story was far more interesting and I wish there was more focus on that side instead of turning it in to a Gurinder Chadha type of novel. The stories are meant to open up other aspects of the community such as arranged marriages and the impact of honour - but it just doesn't seem to connect that well.
The protagonist Nicky is great though who reflects many British Asians growing up with dual cultures. Good but not great.
A group of old Punjabi women attend an English language class run by a British Asian young woman who mistakenly brings in an erotic book one day. It opens up a world of sensuous pleasure for the women, who are normally quite conservative about such topics.
While it's quite a novelty and funny at the beginning, the stories become repetitive and it becomes a little boring. The honour crime story was far more interesting and I wish there was more focus on that side instead of turning it in to a Gurinder Chadha type of novel. The stories are meant to open up other aspects of the community such as arranged marriages and the impact of honour - but it just doesn't seem to connect that well.
The protagonist Nicky is great though who reflects many British Asians growing up with dual cultures. Good but not great.
BookblogbyCari (345 KP) rated The Mister in Books
May 19, 2019
It lacks the shock and drama of Fifty Shades. (1 more)
It's too slow.
Not as good as the author's Fifty Shades trilogy
There are probably a great many women hoping for another "Fifty Shades" book direct from the same author - but they will all be disappointed, for the reasons above.
Additionally although the book is written from the POV of both the male and the female central characters, the male part is written from the first person, while the female part is written in the third person. And the erotic scenes take place from the male POV. So, it's written more for fans of "Fifty Shades as Told By Grey", rather than "Fifty Shades" per se.
The central female character got on my nerves, lacking in confidence where she ought to have it in spades.
I got half way through the book and stopped. I was mildly curious about the background story but not enough to persevere with such a slow book.
Additionally although the book is written from the POV of both the male and the female central characters, the male part is written from the first person, while the female part is written in the third person. And the erotic scenes take place from the male POV. So, it's written more for fans of "Fifty Shades as Told By Grey", rather than "Fifty Shades" per se.
The central female character got on my nerves, lacking in confidence where she ought to have it in spades.
I got half way through the book and stopped. I was mildly curious about the background story but not enough to persevere with such a slow book.
ArecRain (8 KP) rated Two Dukes and a Lady in Books
Jan 18, 2018
ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A historical menage a trois involving childhood friends? Sign me up please! As soon as a I read the synopsis, I requested this book immediately. This is everything I wanted. Historical erotica is the best. Childhood friends to lovers is my weakness. Throw in a menage a trois and I am sold 100%.
And the novel didnt disappoint. Overall, it was as erotic as it was romantic. I was a little annoyed at the characters, their actions/reactions to situations, and how they handled them. I mean, they havent seen this woman they loved for years, and the first time they do, they practically ravage her in the street after not contacting her in forever. It felt similar to reading a YA where the couple hasnt quite figured out how to interact with their significant other as an adult.
Barring that, it was a great read. I wish I could find more novels similar to this mold (that arent garbage.)
A historical menage a trois involving childhood friends? Sign me up please! As soon as a I read the synopsis, I requested this book immediately. This is everything I wanted. Historical erotica is the best. Childhood friends to lovers is my weakness. Throw in a menage a trois and I am sold 100%.
And the novel didnt disappoint. Overall, it was as erotic as it was romantic. I was a little annoyed at the characters, their actions/reactions to situations, and how they handled them. I mean, they havent seen this woman they loved for years, and the first time they do, they practically ravage her in the street after not contacting her in forever. It felt similar to reading a YA where the couple hasnt quite figured out how to interact with their significant other as an adult.
Barring that, it was a great read. I wish I could find more novels similar to this mold (that arent garbage.)
ArecRain (8 KP) rated Long for Me (Luminous, #3) in Books
Jan 18, 2018
ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A boss romance involving BDSM. Sounds like the perfect recipe right? I thought so too, but I wasnt 100% happy with this novel. On one hand, the erotic scenes were as graphic as they were hot. The chemistry between the leads was undeniable.
The being said, I wanted to punch the heroine in the face on multiple occasions. Okay, I know that is a bit extreme. Overreactions aside, she could be pretty obnoxious. I understand that she is supposed to have the PTSD from past abuse back story but she over the top with it. Even after the long extensive conversations with her best friend about the BDSM community, she still cant separate from abuse. Even after going to the club and seeing consenting couples enjoying themselves. She still cant separate it from abuse. I had to put the book down multiple times because she was so annoying.
If that doesnt bother you, or you can get past that aspect, the story is pretty enjoyable.
A boss romance involving BDSM. Sounds like the perfect recipe right? I thought so too, but I wasnt 100% happy with this novel. On one hand, the erotic scenes were as graphic as they were hot. The chemistry between the leads was undeniable.
The being said, I wanted to punch the heroine in the face on multiple occasions. Okay, I know that is a bit extreme. Overreactions aside, she could be pretty obnoxious. I understand that she is supposed to have the PTSD from past abuse back story but she over the top with it. Even after the long extensive conversations with her best friend about the BDSM community, she still cant separate from abuse. Even after going to the club and seeing consenting couples enjoying themselves. She still cant separate it from abuse. I had to put the book down multiple times because she was so annoying.
If that doesnt bother you, or you can get past that aspect, the story is pretty enjoyable.
Awix (3310 KP) rated 365 Days (2020) in Movies
Jul 30, 2020 (Updated Jul 30, 2020)
The same old story: boy meets girl, then he kidnaps her and keeps her prisoner for a year because he is a gangster and had a vision of her a few years previously while taking a bullet during his dad's assassination. Naturally she quickly falls in love with him; many games of hide-the-sausage ensue. Needless to say the whole thing looks like a commercial, albeit with much more cunningly-framed fellatio than the typical advert.
Basically attempts to mash up an erotic thriller (a genre noted for almost never generating excitement or arousal) with a coercive romance (the nastiest of all genres), with results that are virtually unwatchable: woodenly acted, leadenly directed, badly written in every way, it's a mixture of the clumsy and the tasteless from start to (baffling) finish. A horrible, unpleasant film: if future historians want evidence of just how badly screwed up this year was, they need only look at the fact that this film somehow became a streaming hit. Ugh, ugh; a thousand times ugh.
Basically attempts to mash up an erotic thriller (a genre noted for almost never generating excitement or arousal) with a coercive romance (the nastiest of all genres), with results that are virtually unwatchable: woodenly acted, leadenly directed, badly written in every way, it's a mixture of the clumsy and the tasteless from start to (baffling) finish. A horrible, unpleasant film: if future historians want evidence of just how badly screwed up this year was, they need only look at the fact that this film somehow became a streaming hit. Ugh, ugh; a thousand times ugh.
A leap of faith.
D'asia, twenty-six year old modern woman, beautiful, caring and chosen.
She's been through a lot in her life and now her entire existence has changed. Saved and protected by her employer, chosen by him for extremely important task and transported in an ark full of books and items ready to rebuild a world that broke down and collapsed in on itself.
Book mate is compelling and highly erotic. Not for young readers due to the sexual details but definitely food for thought with the rest of the story. D'asia has to navigate situations that more mature people would struggle with and to be honest, I think she handles it really well. Her world is turned upside down but she works her way through the fear and uncertainty.
A standalone book that could easily have been made longer or part of a series. An absolute must for a book club as there's a multitude of topics for discussion but if you're getting cosy at home grab some snacks and enjoy.
D'asia, twenty-six year old modern woman, beautiful, caring and chosen.
She's been through a lot in her life and now her entire existence has changed. Saved and protected by her employer, chosen by him for extremely important task and transported in an ark full of books and items ready to rebuild a world that broke down and collapsed in on itself.
Book mate is compelling and highly erotic. Not for young readers due to the sexual details but definitely food for thought with the rest of the story. D'asia has to navigate situations that more mature people would struggle with and to be honest, I think she handles it really well. Her world is turned upside down but she works her way through the fear and uncertainty.
A standalone book that could easily have been made longer or part of a series. An absolute must for a book club as there's a multitude of topics for discussion but if you're getting cosy at home grab some snacks and enjoy.
Merissa (12897 KP) rated Incognito in Books
Jun 2, 2023
Miranda was 'burned' by her first lover and has had a problem ever since. If she is attracted to someone, then she freezes up and can't speak or interact without being wooden. She is researching Victorian stories from an unusual angle and manages to draw their influence into her own life, sometimes with crazy risks. Mark is interested in Miranda but is prepared to give her space to sort out her issues. Will he be as understanding when her activities come to light?
This is a very enjoyable and well-written book, with lots of references made to Victorian literature, which were both tantalising and informative. A hot and erotic story of someone exploring their sexuality. Full of incredible detail and history, this is much more than 'just' erotica. Definitely recommended.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 12, 2016
This is a very enjoyable and well-written book, with lots of references made to Victorian literature, which were both tantalising and informative. A hot and erotic story of someone exploring their sexuality. Full of incredible detail and history, this is much more than 'just' erotica. Definitely recommended.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
Apr 12, 2016
Midge (525 KP) rated Two Months and Three Days in Books
Feb 27, 2019
Erotic And Emotional
"Two Months and Three Days" is an unusual combination of a romance and a detective story. It is one of the best contemporary romance books that I have read in a while.
It is the first in a trilogy of books by Tatiana Vedenska that was originally published in Russian under the pen-name of Alisa Klever. A complete best-selling contemporary romance series in Russia, the trilogy very loosely adapts ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ by E.L. James. For me, Tatiana Vedenska is in a league of her own with her individual style of writing, and steamy sex scenes!
This, the opening book of the #SinisterRomance series is a steamy, sensual and emotional read. It is a wonderful tale of a spoiled billionaire and an ordinary student that explores themes such as family bonds, experience and relationships, as well as happiness, belonging and naivety.
This English translation is nicely done and keeps the moments of humour and spicy sex scenes that make "Two Months and Three Days" such a fulfilling and enjoyable read.
{Thank you to NetGalley, LitHunters and Tatiana Vedenska for a free copy and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.}
It is the first in a trilogy of books by Tatiana Vedenska that was originally published in Russian under the pen-name of Alisa Klever. A complete best-selling contemporary romance series in Russia, the trilogy very loosely adapts ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ by E.L. James. For me, Tatiana Vedenska is in a league of her own with her individual style of writing, and steamy sex scenes!
This, the opening book of the #SinisterRomance series is a steamy, sensual and emotional read. It is a wonderful tale of a spoiled billionaire and an ordinary student that explores themes such as family bonds, experience and relationships, as well as happiness, belonging and naivety.
This English translation is nicely done and keeps the moments of humour and spicy sex scenes that make "Two Months and Three Days" such a fulfilling and enjoyable read.
{Thank you to NetGalley, LitHunters and Tatiana Vedenska for a free copy and for giving me the opportunity to provide an honest review.}