Katee Robert continues her exploration of Greek and Roman mythological tales with Electric Idol, which retells the story of Cupid (or Eros) and Psyche. While the world building is good and the romance well-paced, the tale misses out entirely on the best point of tension in the legend, making it something of a miss for…
Looking for a spicy friends-to-lovers erotic romance that really earns its “burning” rating? Look no further than Brianna Ocampo’s Truth or Dare. Cassie has yearned for her best friend Tino since they were teens, but after her one overture was rebuffed nine years earlier, she’s done her best to keep a lid on her feelings….
Persephone and Hades are the O.G.s of the Beauty and the Beast archetype, which is one of my favorites, so I’m always game for a retelling. But if this particular Persephone story disappeared to the Underworld, I wouldn’t really miss it. Olympus, in this version, appears to be an East Coast city-state in an alternate…
I’ve always been a fan of fantasy romances, and so Neon Gods easily caught my eye as a mix of fantasy, Greek mythology, and erotica. While it took me a little while to orient myself in the author’s world, overall this book proved to be a promising start to this new series by Katee Robert….
Why should YA have all the dystopia fun? Elle Kennedy takes the post-apocalyptic US in a decidedly adult direction in Claimed, the first book in her Outlaws series of erotic romances. Rather than marry the psychopath who wants her hand, Hudson Lane fled her privileged life in the city and joined outlaws living in what…
Opal Carew slaps together beaucoup ménages à trois and an incidental plot to create second chance romance Stroke of Luck. An enthusiastic reader of polyamorous relationships, I was disappointed by Carew’s lack of imagination in and out of the bedroom, by the male protagonists – a predator and his accomplice – and the milquetoast heroine. On the…
It takes extraordinary authors to make extraordinary books out of ordinary people. Fortunately, Cara McKenna has what it takes. Erin Coffey earned her LPN while nursing her dying grandmother, so Larkhaven Psychiatric Hospital is her first professional position – one she only took to be close to her disastrous sister and beloved nephew. Kelly Robak…
When I wrote a blog post for AAR called “Male fatphobia in romance novels,” I didn’t dare hope or ask for the bigger guys I find attractive to be heroes; I just begged authors to avoid stereotyping them as pathetic losers. Clearly, I had to try Jessa Kane’s short story Husky, which stars an overweight…
I’m always happy to find something spicy that doesn’t wallow in angst, and Picture Perfect Cowboy is precisely that. Jason Waters, retired rodeo champion, agrees at the last minute to fill in for an injured friend in a naked men reading books calendar photoshoot to raise money for a literacy charity. The photographer, Simone Levine,…
You don’t go into a Planet of Desire book by Robin Lovett without a general understanding of what’s going to happen (lots of sex) yet I always find something new to like about each book in this series. Forbidden Desire is book four and another fun and entertaining read. Niva is a bonafide sex goddess…