Happy 2011 from Katidom!

I'll be offline all weekend, so I wish each of you a Happy and Prosperous New Year filled with romance, love, acceptance and good fortune!

Happy New Year!

Seven Nights to Forever by Evangeline Collins - A Review (-ish)

Rose Marlowe is a whore. For the last five years, she spends one week a month at Madame Rubicon's very high end brothel selling her services to the highest bidder, all this despite the fact that she had a good and loving upbringing. Why has Rose chosen this path? Her father died, leaving his estate destitute. Rose is loathe to tarnish her young brother Dashell's memories of their father, so she decides to become a prostitute to pay off the debts her father amassed, and also to give Dash the opportunities he would have had, if the financial ruin hadn't happened.

James Archer is a self-made man. A successful merchant, who works incredibly hard so as to avoid his cold, loveless marriage, James is unfamiliar with loving anyone but his younger sister, Rebecca. His wife Amelia has carried on countless affairs, but James never has, mostly because he honors the vows he took, but also because Amelia, a titled lady, will be Rebecca's entree to society, and he does not want to jeopardize his sister's opportunity to catch a titled husband.

But one night, James gives in to his baser urges and visits Madame Rubicon. He tells her that he's looking for one evening with a woman, and that he requires the utmost discretion and money is no object. Thus, he meets Rose. A gorgeous, accomplished woman who attracts him like no other. Rose is disconcerted because their first evening, James does no more than kiss her and hold her hand. But as he departs, he asks to see her again. What evolves is a tender and very passionate relationship.

I read this book because Sarah at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books quite liked it, as did Katiebabs. I was interested in the premise and how the author would work within the confines of a woman who is a prostitute and the man who falls in love with her. The book has a very strong beginning, the set-up is interesting and I quite liked both James and Rose. I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out how the author would bring the two of them together. I really liked that the author didn't make it easy at all on them. Rose really never forgets that she is a whore, and is quite uncomfortable being in public. James has hang ups about her profession, and the fact that he'll never be Rose's "first" anything. He occasionally acts the ass, but always apologizes quite appropriately, and is extremely contrite. This was a couple I really rooted for, wanting them to find their HEA desperately.

But the HEA is the problem I had with the book. Not so much that they ended up together, but the HOW of it. The ending felt very, very rushed to me. As if the author looked at her word count one day and realized, "Oh shit, I need to wrap this book up!" and in about two chapters, it was done. As a reader, I felt quite robbed by the ending. I believed in this couple, but the ending went SO quickly, when the romance itself had built so slowly, and lusciously, that I felt quite robbed.

Ms. Collins writing style quite evokes Mary Balogh to me, and I wished that she had looked at Slightly Dangerous, in my opinion Balogh's best book, for the ending. I wish that James and Rose's relationship, which evolved so slowly, had been given the courtesy of the slow and deeply meaningful proposal that Wulfric and Christine's had. And a book never needed an epilogue more than Seven Nights to Forever! If I had to be rushed to the ending, I really wished I'd at least gotten to see the couple together after they'd been married. It would have left me far more satisfied.

All of this combines to leave me torn about the grade for this book. The first 80% of the book is perfection. It's romantic and slow building, the characters are incredibly likable and I rooted very hard for them. But the last 20% of the book does such disservice to the excellent work put into the beginning. Overall, Seven Nights to Forever is a truly enjoyable romance with a very rushed ending. If you enjoy the journey more than the destination, I believe this book will work for you. If you need a strong ending, this book should probably be passed over. For me, Seven Nights to Forever was a mostly enjoyable reading experience that left me wanting more for than the couple than what they were given.

Final grade: B/B-

Willing Victim by Cara McKenna - A Review(-ish)

I picked up this book at the encouragement of both Jane Litte of Dear Author, who read and reviewed it in September, and Elyssa Papa, who is becoming my go to recommender-girl. I got a new Kindle for Christmas and this was the first book I downloaded.

The premise of the book is this: Laurel is a waitress at a Boston tourist trap. She quit her engineering job after the death of her mother, and is very much feeling dead inside, as if nothing challenges her, or moves her, or really motivates her. One day, while reading in a park, she witnesses a young couple arguing. The guy in the argument begins to get physical with the woman, and Laurel is just getting ready to dial for the police. Suddenly, a big, brawny guy dressed in construction worker clothing intervenes and breaks up the altercation. Laurel's interest is immediately sparked by the guy, and she asks if she can buy him lunch. He is initially wary and declines, but after some persistence, she manages to get him to agree. His name is Michael Flynn, and he's blue collar in every way. Laurel is interested in his brusque, caustic seeming manner, and would like to see him again. After much cajoling, she gets him to invite her to a bar where he'll be later that week. She goes to the bar, and uses his name, and is let into the basement of the bar where a Fight Club sort of sub-bar seems to exist. Flynn is a fighter there. Laurel meets a woman named Pam who seems to be with Michael, and Laurel immediately apologizes realizing that she's poaching on Pam's man. Pam sets the record straight saying that she and Flynn are just scratching a particular itch that they have. You see, Pam and Flynn engage in what I would characterize as very rough sex. Rape fantasies. Laurel is immediately intrigued and says yes when Pam invites her to come and watch her and Flynn have sex that night. so that she can get a feel for whether it's something Laurel might be interested in. Laurel watches and strikes an agreement with Flynn to have her own "session" with him.

What ensues is Laurel indulging a variety of rape fantasies with Flynn.

I read this book because it is almost antithetical to me. I don't understand the need for pain during sex, and I have a hard time identifying with those who might like to be overwhelmed by their partners to the level of a rape fantasy. So the book was definitely outside of my comfort zone.

That being said, I thought that Ms. McKenna did a fantastic job with the book. The story is told almost exclusively from Laurel's viewpoint, although Flynn loosens up during the book enough that we get plenty of insight into him as well. The reader understands from the beginning that Laurel is really calling the shots. She and Flynn have a very frank conversation before they begin to lay out all of the ground rules. And Flynn sticks to them strictly. But the sex scenes are graphic, and filled with aggressive sex. This is not a book that I would ever recommend for readers who are sensitive at all about rape.

Laurel and Flynn do get to know each other very well and in the end, we're left with a definite HFN ending, which satisfied me as a reader. I have mixed feelings about how to grade this book. Ms. McKenna is a gifted author and wrote a compelling couple and certainly the characters evolved as the story went on. But the storyline itself is one that made me pretty uncomfortable and is certainly not a storyline I think that I would ever want to read again. Also because I know a couple of rape survivors quite well, I couldn't help but project what I know about those women into the story, which probably made it even more uncomfortable reading that usual for me.

I'm not sure I would list this book among my recommended reads, but I'm glad I read it. Overall, Willing Victim is a well done erotic story that combines excellent character development and strongly sexual situations, albeit utilizing the rape fantasy to accomplish those goals. If you're looking for something outside the norm of what one finds in erotica, this may be the book for you. For me? I don't believe I'll ever read it again, but as I said, I'm glad I tried it.

Final grade: B-

Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor by Lisa Kleypas - A Review (-ish)

Mark Nolan is in for the shock of his life when his sister Victoria is killed and he comes to find out that he is the sole guardian for his seven year old niece, Holly. You see, Victoria was raising Holly alone, having never disclosed to her family who Holly father was. When Mark arrives at the babysitter's house to tell Holly about her mom, she is, of course devastated. She also decides to stop speaking altogether.

Mark persuades his brother, Sam, to allow both he and Holly to move into Sam's ramshackle fixer-upper house on the vineyard that Sam runs. And the brothers begin to learn the ropes of parenting. You see, Mark and Sam's parents had a very dysfunctional relationship, that involved emotional abuse and neglect. So the brothers really are winging it.

One day, Mark and Holly walk into Maggie Conroy's toy store. Maggie immediately sees the man of her dreams, Mark. But seeing that he's holding a little girl's hand, she assumes that he's married and therefore unavailable. She speaks to Holly and asks her to help her name the fairy that lives in the fairy cottage on the wall in her toy store. Mark is disinclined to encourage flights of fancy, not really believing in allowing for the pretend. But when Holly actually speaks to Maggie, Mark realizes that this extraordinary woman might just be the answer to something missing in both his and Holly's life.

Lisa Kleypas is a virtual sure thing for me. I believe that this is because I am a very hero-centric romance reader, and her heroes almost always work for me on every level. Mark Nolan is no exception. He's a regular guy; a bachelor, who tends to date preternaturally good looking women, and runs a successful coffee business. He's also honorable, and kind, and loving with his niece. This is not one of Kleypas's larger than life heroes. Rather a hero you'd like for your friends to set you up with. And he's offset beautifully by Maggie, his heroine, who is a widow, who lived through her husband's long and tortuous death from cancer, and has sworn not to love again. And yet, a more loving, open soul would be hard to find. It is Maggie's empathy for Holly and her gift of play that makes both Mark and Holly come alive on the page. Even Holly, the little girl isn't too much. She's not one of those ridiculously precocious Romanceland children, and she's more than just a plot point, she is actually the catalyst for the relationship between Mark and Maggie, and her presence enhances the story.

My complaints about this book are few. The first being, this is really more of a novella than anything. While it's a sweet and wholly satisfying story, I would not have paid hard cover price for it. I bought it at a significant reduction as an ebook, and was thoroughly satisfied with it. As always, Kleypas has a deft hand with creating "moments" within the story, and while it's not as steamy as some of her books, it's almost more romantic than others. For fans of Kleypas, I'd say this book is worth reading. I am really unhappy to read that she will not be publishing anything in 2011, which means the wait for more Friday Harbor books is going to be interminable for fans of this gifted author.

Final grade: B

Ride the Fire by Jo Davis - A Review (-ish)

So it's come to this. I remember my total elation reading Jo Davis's first Firefighters of Station Five book, Trial by Fire. I loved, loved, loved Howard. I loved Kat, his heroine. I thought that the romantic suspense side of things was really well done. Little did I know that the formula I found to be SO winning in Trial by Fire was just that, a formula. Each and every book since then has contained more or less the exact same elements. The result for me is total series fatigue.

Sean Tanner is a man with a tragic past. A man who did NOT react well to those tragedies. He's a recovering alcoholic who is responsible for ending the careers of one of his men at Station Five. After that horrible accident, he goes to rehab and finally enters recovery. Prior to rehab though, Sean was a serious bastard. Resentful, angry, mostly drunk, and really tough to love, which of course, made him my favorite of the firefighters at Station Five, and the one whose story I was anticipating most. Throughout the series, we've known that Eve, the only female firefighter at Station Five was going to be Sean's heroine. Eve is tough enough to hang with the guys, but totally female as well.

When Sean returns from rehab, he's finally ready to attempt to move on with his life. Part of that is acting on the simmering chemistry he and Eve have had together. They go on a date, and end up sleeping together. Of course, in the morning, Sean panics and pretty much lets Eve know that the smoking hot sex they had was a one time thing. Eve is devastated, and decides to transfer to a different station. But Sean quickly apologizes and they go back to bumpin' uglies and having stilted (but intended to be sexy) conversations left and right. On the romantic suspense front, Sean's best friend from back when he was in the service is a bad man. A VERY BAD MAN. He apparently seduced Sean's wife (who died along with his children in a crash that Sean was on scene for), and is now planning revenge on Sean for stopping him from killing a member of their unit back in their military days. It doesn't take long for Sean to put two and two together and get the police and FBI involved. There's a clash here, and clash there, and then a BIG showdown where Sean loses his temper, Eve loses all semblance of the smarts she's been portrayed to have, and the bad guy is captured with no real "suspense" ever coming into play.

As you can tell, this book did not work for me for a variety of reasons.

First, Sean's recovery was almost too fast for me. While yes, he'd mourned his family for the last four books, he'd mostly done it by being a raging, nasty drunk asshole. But in literally one scene in this book, Sean breaks down, and whoops, all better, time to move on with your life. On top of that, from my perspective, he continued to exhibit bad behavior by occasionally acting like a giant jackass ("What? You might be pregnant? How could you DO this to me?") and then immediately apologizing. To me, not the signs of a man who is recovered completely, or frankly, emotionally healed enough to carry on a healthy, mature relationship.

For her part, Eve is mostly likable, but someone who doesn't really ever make an impression. I think that this is a weakness in Jo Davis's writing style. She tends to "say" alot. For example, Eve's relationship with her mother is important to her. How do I know this? Davis spends every interaction telling me that "Eve treasured her mother." "Eve just didn't know what she'd do without her mother." To me, this is just lazy writing. You don't have to tell me that. SHOW me. Also, Eve suffers from Intermittent Feistiness Syndrome. She's all kinds of feisty if she thinks one of the other firefighters is disrespecting her, but man, she just crumples like a cheap suit when Sean is acting like an ass, never EVER calling him on his bullshit. The result is a heroine who to me is completely forgettable.

The bad guy in this book again should have just had a mustache that he could twirl because he was EVIL. EVIL, I SAY! Davis continues to write smoking hot sex scenes, although one did include a kitchen condiment that, IMO should NEVER be employed during sex, most especially for backdoor action.

After such a promising start in Trial by Fire, I've been disappointed by each subsequent Firefighters of Station Five book since. It's unfortunate that such a fun premise was ruined by a formula run into the ground. I hope that Davis continues writing, because I think her books will appeal to a lot of readers, but they just don't work for me.

Final Grade: F

A Christmas Promise by Mary Balogh - A Review (-ish)

The truth is, I generally loathe holiday themed novels or novellas of any kind. Most particularly Halloween stories, followed closely by Christmas. But in November, Dear Author featured a joint review of A Christmas Promise by Mary Balogh which intrigued me.

Weddings are supposed to be joyous occasions—especially when a couple seems as well matched as Randolph Pierce, Earl of Falloden, and his bride-to-be, Eleanor Transome. Ellie brings to the marriage a vast dowry, while Falloden, though distant, is handsome, tremendously desirable, and possessed of a title most young ladies can only dream of sharing.

Yet Ellie is not most young ladies. She knows that she must honor her dear father’s dying wish for her to wed the proud earl, but she dreads a lifetime in a union without love—and how can Falloden claim to love her when he married her only for her fortune? As Christmas descends upon the Falloden manor, the warmth of the season may yet melt away the trappings of duty and wealth, leaving behind only a man and a woman destined for each other’s arms.

Ellie's father has bought an Earl for her. You see, he is dying, and wants nothing more than his beloved daughter settled and cared for after his death. To that end, he has bought all of the debts entailed to the Earl of Falloden and basically forced him to marry his "cit" daughter. The Earl agrees, but is put off by the crassness of the request and the worry that Eleanor will be uncouth and embarrass him.

When he meets Ellie, he finds her to be a lovely, but decidedly cold woman who shows no emotion, even in the face of her father dying. In fact, Ellie feels so much that she literally shuts down when faced with too much emotional strain. Which is why Falloden believes her to be cold and unfeeling. But as the holidays approach, and Ellie's entire family descends upon Falloden's quiet country home, the Earl gets to know Ellie better, and slowly falls in love with this prickly, argumentative, warm and caring woman.

Balogh is very hit or miss for me. If I read something that works for me by her, I don't just like it, I LOVE it. If I read something I don't like, I hate it. I think it's because when Balogh works for me, it's utterly, so it's always a profound disappointment when she writes something that I don't like. In the case of A Christmas Promise, it's LOVE.

The story features Balogh's delicate touch at character development. The two main characters are such disparate people, from such different backgrounds, that it's hard as a reader to figure out how Balogh will find a way for them to come together. Their relationship is like a "real" relationship, going in fits and starts, with a variety of mis-steps by both characters. But they are both so well developed, and their introspection is such that we root for them to find a way. The novella is short, about 180 pages in my eReader, but at no time did I feel rushed, or that Balogh took any short cuts in the development of the story. The secondary characters are delightful and add color and life to the story, offering insights into both characters without seeming like "exposition only" characters.

Overall, A Christmas Promise is a well written, sweet holiday themed romance that offers a quick and completely satisfying romance.

Final grade: B+

Liberating Lacey by Anne Calhoun - A Review (-ish)

Lacey Meyers has just recently finalized her divorce from her childhood sweetheart, Davis. She is anxious to meet someone, anyone new. She gets herself dressed up in clothes she would not usually wear and heads off to Buff, the latest local hotspot to see if she can, indeed, meet someone new. As she's standing at the bar, she finds her waist being lightly touched by a younger, very handsome man as he slips past her to order a drink. The thrill in just that small touch intrigues Lacey, and she bucks up and makes eye contact with the man. Next thing you know, they are getting their serious flirt on. One thing leads to another, and she and Hunter, the man, are out in the parking lot having seriously hot sex up against an SUV that provides relative (and scant) privacy. (ETA: I re-read the scene not IN the SUV, Up Against The SUV.)

Lacey's best friend, Claire, is a reformed hook-up artist, but has recently gotten married and had two kids in two years. She's schooled Lacey in the rules of the hook-up. No strings, no attachment, don't expect a phone call, or any further contact between you and the hook up. Dirty sex is pretty much the only expectation. So while Lacey experiences the hottest sex she's ever had, she's unsure whether Hunter will accept her invitation to come back to her house. He does. And the moment he walks through the door, Hunter understands that Lacey is not a "usual" hook-up. Sure, her carriage and demeanor at the bar tipped him off that she was not his usual type, but walking into her lavish and comfortable home, he understands that this woman is outside of his usual experience. She's all white collar, and with him being a decidedly blue collar cop, he's well aware that this is a one-and-done deal. Except that Lacey intrigues him. She's completely honest about the fact that she's never done this before. She's revelatory about the sex that they have, throwing herself wholeheartedly into every moment. And she's open about herself, her success, her marriage's failure, her insecurities.

This is easily one of most successful erotic romances I've ever read. The premise is one of my favorites, younger man/older woman, but really, the character's ages is never the issue. It is a class issue that is the problem. And frankly, it's on Hunter's side. As someone who grew up with a trust fund, and who earns a ton of money on her own, Lacey is oblivious to class distinctions. She doesn't think in terms of that. And watching Hunter struggle, wanting to give Lacey "what she deserves" when Lacey is fully capable of getting that for herself is half the fun of the book. For her part, Lacey is reveling in the way Hunter treats her -- with such confidence and proprietariness.

Calhoun slowly and with a deft hand crafts their relationship. Each sexual encounter builds on the last. Every time they see each other or interact, it ratchets up the intensity in the relationship. No scene or interaction is gratuitous, or without intent. The result is a truly beautiful and revelatory love story that unfolds before the reader's eyes. And the ending of the story is pitch perfect, enlightening us about aspects of Hunter that we didn't know. It is a superbly written book and has vaulted over a number of others to place in my Top 10 favorite reads this year. If you are looking for a strong, sensual, beautifully written erotic contemporary, look no farther, Liberating Lacey meets the bill in spades.

Final Grade: A

Delayed Reaction

Do you ever read a review somewhere and think, "I'd probably like that book a lot." And then never do anything about it?

I had that happen to me about a year or so ago when reading Jane Litte's review of Liberating Lacey by Anne Calhoun. I remember clearly reading the review of the book, and thinking, "Oh man, this book is RIGHT up my alley." But then I kind of forgot about it. Jane mentioned the book again in her Smugglivus post for The Book Smugglers (who, if you're not following, you should be, Ana and Thea are brilliant and read and review a fantastically eclectic collection of books, and rarely steer me wrong). Then, as fate would have it, I tweeted last week asking for suggestions to further my contemporary binge that I've been on for about a month now.

Elyssa Papa (who I've come to adore on Twitter) suggested Liberating Lacey. And I though, "OK, this is it, I need to read this book." So yesterday, as I loaded up my eReader for the next two weeks, I downloaded the book. I started reading it today, and as usual, cannot for the life of me figure out why I didn't read it sooner.

The book's set up is a familiar one: newly divorced 36YO woman goes to a bar to meet a man. And meet a man she does, a younger, very hot, very dominant cop (!) named Hunter. Next thing you know, they're doing it in an SUV (that belongs to neither of them, eww!) in the parking lot of the bar. With the exception of doing it in someone else's car, this set up is just up my alley. I can already tell that the big hang up is not going to be the older woman/younger man thing, but the blue collar vs. white collar thing. Which is a trope I love. Again, no idea why I waited to read this book. But I find myself thoroughly entertained by it so far, and anxious to keep reading. Look for a review of the book later this week.

YOUR TURN: What about you? Have you ever waited a while to read a book that everyone else was talking about? When you read it, did it live up to its hype?

What I Like About Jill Shalvis

I've been on a contemporary binge lately. Gobbling them up like they're double stuff oreos. I've read several Jill Shalvis books, from her Wilder Brothers series, to her baseball series, to Simply Irresistible, her last release. I've now moved on to her Sky High Air series.

Of course, I read out of order, beginning with Strong & Sexy (book 2), and then going back to Smart & Sexy (book 1). And I've been trying to pinpoint what I like so much about these books.

Shalvis writes men really, really well. She does "guy speak" well, but more than that, I love her internal monologue for her heroes. They tend to be turned on by their women in little ways that ring true to me as a reader. For example, the heroine in Strong & Sexy, Dani, is all sorts of awkward. She tends to say whatever comes to mind, she's self conscious and goofy. And Shayne, the hero, just melts toward her. When he first meets her, she's dressed up to attend a cocktail party, but has her hair being held up by pencils that she forgot to remove. The next time he sees her, she has an avocado mask on and has just polished off an entire half gallon of ice cream...by herself. And Shayne is completely captivated. Oh sure, she's curvy and soft in the right spots, which clearly works for Shayne. But he also sees her sweet nature and her determination to get by on her own, and respects it.

Which moves me on to her heroines. They're smart. They're determined. They have great sense of humor. She writes them as people who you can imagine having a glass of wine on a girls' night with. They're not "kick ass" females. They are self-sufficient, but also just trying to get through whatever mess Shalvis has made up for them. Like a normal woman would. They tend to not be good at everything, they're not perfect. Which makes the reader enjoy them because, well, they're like us. They have money issues, weight issues, man problems, shitty boss problems. In short (too late) they're women we'd like to be friends with. And they attract these men who are fantasies. What's not to love about that?

Stacy has been pimping Jill Shalvis books for ages, but I just started reading her last year. I count myself very, very lucky that she has such an extensive backlist.

If you haven't read anything by Jill Shalvis, and you're a fan of smart and sexy contemporaries, why not give her a try? I have yet to read one of her books that doesn't work for me.

YOUR TURN: Have you read Jill Shalvis? If so, which book of hers is your favorite?

The Give & Take of Romance

I tweeted this morning about the fact that I had tweeted an author three times in the last week to compliment her on her book and had received no acknowledgment whatsoever back from said author. I had a number of other authors pipe up to say that they very often miss Twitter mentions, and that was most likely the case with this author.

Now, I'd buy that once, but three separate comments at three separate times, and not one single acknowledgment? Really?

But that's gotten me to thinking, should I really expect an acknowledgment? I mean, I'm not a "big time" reviewer, like say, Jane Litte from Dear Author, or Sarah from Smart Bitches. I don't have hundreds of followers, just my very loyal 59 *blows kisses*, and those who might have my blog in their Google reader feed. What I mean is, I don't have a huge audience.

That being said, I'm a relentless book pimp. If I love a book, I'll push it all over kingdom come. I'll tell my romance reading friends about it. Heck, I've even been known to buy copies of it for friends. I tend to go a bit overboard. I'll follow the author around on blog tours, commenting and making sure that I help, in whatever little way I can, to push the book. I've been known to write publishers to thank them for publishing a book. You see? A little overboard.

So I was surprised at how aggravated I was not to get an acknowledgment from this author. She happens to have a pretty strong online presence, both on Twitter and Facebook, but I don't believe she's a best seller yet, although she probably will be. What I mean by that is, it's not like me sending Nora Roberts a note to tell her how much I love her books. I even made it a point to comment to her on Twitter at a time that I knew she was on (she was tweeting). Nothing.

But really, why do I deserve acknowledgment for enjoying her book? I bought it, I paid for it, and I enjoyed it. That's really all I should expect. And yet, Romanceland has created in me a sense of entitlement. The authors who I've come in contact with have always been very generous. I'm lucky enough to consider several of them buddies. They always comment back. I have several who comment on my blog, which thrills me Every. Single. Time.

As I said, I have really no right to expect anything from this author. Her book entertained me, and that should be enough. But honestly, I have a bunch of her books on my eReader (having bought four after reading the first one), and now I know for sure that I won't be reviewing the rest of her books on my blog, whether I love them or not. Even though I enjoyed her books tremendously, I won't be pimping them. I won't mention them in my Top reads of the year.

Is my reaction extreme? Probably. Even likely. But the truth is, there are other authors out there who *DO* acknowledge readers who send messages to let them know how much they enjoy the author's work, and they write books just as enjoyable. So I'll take my little, tiny spot in the Romanceland pond, and I'll pimp them. This author will literally never know the difference. And she really may never have known that I enjoyed her books, or honestly even care. But it will make me feel better.

Like I said, maybe I have no right to have expected a response from the author in question. I've just been spoiled by the many, many authors who do acknowledge readers who enjoy their work.

YOUR TURN: What are your thoughts about reader/author interactions? Do we as readers have a right to expect authors to acknowledge it when we let them know we've enjoyed their work? Or should enjoying the novel really be enough?

In Which Kati Pimps Another Series

Lauren Dane, where have you been all my life??

OK, well actually, you've been in my life. I read the first in your SciFi Romance series, and I read Cascadia Wolves and I read Second Chances and mostly liked it. And then I picked up Coming Undone.

I thought it was the first in your Brown siblings series, but it turns out it's the second book, and Laid Bare is the first. Not a problem for me, the appearance of the heroine and her two heros (!) from Laid Bare in this book just whetted my whistle for their story.

Why did this book work so well for me? Well, the first is the below mentioned abused heroine/gentle alpha storyline. I do love me an alpha who will gentle himself for his woman. Although, here's the thing. Brody Brown? Already gentle. He raised his siblings, he loves his life, he's a good friend, lover and is generally an all around good guy. Who happens to be huge and tattooed and maybe a little scary if he wants to be. But all of that surrounds this delicious, gooey, chocolatey center that makes the heroine and frankly, the reader just melt.

While he and Elise start off very casual, he treats her with respect and honor. And even though he thinks he's not in love, he's with her often, meets her parents, and includes her with his friends. What I love about this story is that much of Elisa and Brody's romance unfolds over a year. And during that year, we get lots of opportunities to see them together. See them interact, have extremely hot sex, fight, make up and build a relationship that seems wholly real and fully evolved.

Elise is no shrinking violet herself. Even as a survivor of horrific abuse, she's tough. She's very protective of the daughter she's raising. And she knows her self-worth. She doesn't allow Brody to be high handed with her (as all the best alphas are), and she integrates him into her life without much drama.

The book features fantastic dialogue and smoking hot sex scenes between a couple that has a metric ton of chemistry. I'm so glad that I bought this book, and honestly can't wait to dive into the next!

For those of you who might be looking for a strongly written, entertaining as hell contemporary erotic, the Brown siblings series is not to be missed!

Final grade: A

Favorite Romance Trope - The Abused Heroine/Gentle Alpha

I think we've established that I loves me an alpha hero. I love the caregiving alpha even more.

But one of my very favorite romance trope is a heroine who has been abused by her ex and finds love with the alpha hero. My favorite part, the gentleness required by said alpha hero in the wooing of abused heroine. Second favorite part, when abusive ex crawls out from beneath his rock, as he's wont to do, and tries to make abused heroine submit to his will and gets his ass handed to him by gentle alpha hero guy.

In thinking about it, I have to wonder why it is that the hero who rescues the heroine is such a thing for me. I'm not 100% sure why the trope works so well for me, except that it forces the alpha male, all dominant and pushy, to gentle his ways in order to woo his woman. And I find gentleness in an alpha male a very heady thing.

I'm currently reading Coming Undone by Lauren Dane. This book features an abused heroine, and the man who woos her, Brody Brown is all kinds of alpha. He's a tattoo artist, he drives a Harley, he's older brother to two wild child siblings. And yet, even though Brody is strong, and dominant, and capable, he is very gentle with the heroine. He understands almost immediately that she's been abused. And it is his gentle wooing of the heroine that woos me, the reader.

Another of my favorite abused heroine stories is Shelter Mountain by Robin Carr. Now usually, Carr's books give me a bit of a toothache. But the first two in the series, Virgin River and Shelter Mountain, are total comfort reads for me. In this case, the hero, John, offers safety and shelter to the heroine, who is still sporting bruises from her last beating from her bastard husband. John is big, a Marine, but also so gentle in the way he cares for and protects the heroine and her child. It's just such a sweet and heartwarming story.

YOUR TURN: What about you? Do you like the abused heroine/gentle alpha trope? If so, what are some of your favorites? If the trope doesn't work for you, why not?