Tag: erotic fiction

Erotica, Horror, Mystery/Thriller, New Adult Romance

My Review: Does It Hurt?: by H.D. Carlton

nicholasjgoodsell
Publish Date: July 22nd, 2022
Number of Pages: 430 Pages
Publisher: Independently Published
Genre(s): Dark Romance, New Adult Romance, Mystery/Thriller, Horror

Total Star Rating: 4 Stars

There’s a place in the ocean, so deep, where not a single point of light penetrates through it. And for so long, I’ve been trapped there, unable to breathe. When I met you, you lifted me out of that darkness, and it was the first time I came up for air. You’ve become my oxygen, bella ladra, and I can no longer breathe without you.”

– H.D. Carlton, “Does It Hurt?”

~~~

What It’s About:

The official synopsis:

Who am I?

I’ve forgotten the answer to that question long ago. Ever since I ran from that house, so desperate to escape, I left with only the clothes on my back and socks on my feet. After that day, I’ve only ever walked in stolen shoes.

Could I be a girl who is searching for the meaning of life in faceless men? They were all so forgettable. Until he came along. He took me under a waterfall and made me forget my name, and in return, I took his instead.

Enzo Vitale.

An enigmatic man that will only ever love the deep sea. Or rather the predators that inhabit it. Turns out, he’s not so different than the monsters he feeds. He lured me onto his boat like a fish in the ocean, seeking vengeance for my crime. Had I realized his intentions, and that a massive storm would leave us shipwrecked, I would’ve run.

Now, I’m a girl who’s seeking refuge in a decrepit lighthouse with a man who loathes me almost as much as he craves me. He wants to hurt me, but the old caretaker of the abandoned island may have intentions far more sinister.

It’s no longer a question of who I am, but rather, will I survive?

~~~

Okay readers, this is my first H.D. Carlton book before I hit up the Cat and Mouse duet which seems to be her most popular work, so I’m glad to say I wasn’t disappointed at all! In fact, this book is one I’d say is a great bridge into the darker themed romances this author and plenty of others are known for. It definitely had the darker themes, but I’d say it wasn’t too overwhelming for a reader who wasn’t sure and merely wanted to dip their toes into before taking the plunge.

This story is about a young woman named Sawyer Bennett who’s on the run from her dark past. She’s become a chameleon and has resorted to stealing people’s identities in order to move around and stay hidden; the first chapter is her making an impulse decision to board a different plane at the last possible moment out of pure paranoia of word of her being seen getting back to whomever is stalking her or looking for her…

She winds up in Australia and at a bar where she runs into Enzo Vitale, an enigmatic marine biologist who specializes in sharks, and things VERY quickly get hot and heavy between them…until the next morning Sawyer steals his information and gets a new credit card in his name! Dun Duh DUN!!!

Enzo’s a smart guy, and he quickly figures it out, but a confrontation leads to them being stuck out at sea during a storm and then shipwrecked on a small island with a lighthouse and it’s old caretaker…. and I’ll stop there before I reveal any more of the story because I don’t want to spoil too much for you if you actually do wind up grabbing a copy for yourself.

~~~

What happened to you does not define you. It only forged a new path that will take you to a different version of yourself. But no one can force you to walk that road; only you can determine who you will be once you get there. It’s your choice who you become, Sawyer.”

– H.D. Carlton, “Does It Hurt?”

~~~

What I Like:

  1. The Insta-Lust! While I’m not the biggest fan of insta-love, insta-LUST can freakin’ GET IT because sometimes we don’t need a slowburn, spice right away is also a great way to have a story go! The chemistry between Enzo and Sawyer was absolutely sizzling, despite all the other things going on in the story alongside their developing relationship. The spice was phenomenal, and there were some kinks explored too that I won’t talk about, but you can find out about if you do some research! I will say though, BRAVO ENZO!!
  2. The Darker Themes! This was definitely a mystery/suspense/thriller type of story with even a few horror-like elements thrown in too in a few spots, and it made the perfect setting for some of the darker themes explored in this story. Without going too into detail, both main characters have traumatic pasts that come up, and the experience they have being stuck on an island with a strange man is also traumatic, this book is definitely not for the readers who prefer the rom-com, lighter toned stories. It’s as dark and gut wrenching as the ocean during a hurricane, but I’d still say this may be an easier dark romance to get into for someone who’s curious to try it out for the first time.
  3. Sawyer Bennett! She gets MVP for this book for sure. She’s got to be the most adorable identity thief I’ve ever run across. Even though she does a terrible thing to people in order to survive, she’s still incredibly likeable as a character and is extremely hard to not absolutely fall for!

What I Didn’t Like:

  1. The Slow Midpoint…Okay, so after about the first 25% of the book, it feels like the plot really slows down. This is when Enzo and Sawyer are stuck on the island and just get their bearings. It’s where their relationship takes centerstage and gets the most attention, and yes there’s spicy scenes. But everything else kind of drags…the mystery of the island, the intentions of the old man named Sylvester, the sounds they hear at night, everything else gets the slowburn treatment…If not for the spice and the assholeness we see of Enzo, I’d probably have been really bored with this book in all honesty.

Conclusion:

Overall, I enjoyed this book as my first trek into H.D Carlton’s bookland. I’ve taken notice of how loyal her fanbase seems to be; I mean, people are willing to spend $1000+ on limited printing special editions of her books, that definitely made me curious to see what she’s all about!

I’d say this is an excellent candidate for anyone who’s curious to try out dark romance for the first time but are worried about being overwhelmed with the triggering content. Don’t get me wrong, there’s definitely some content in this book that some will definitely not like or be able to handle, so one last time, if you think you’re a reader who is like this….do your research on trigger warnings before opening this book.

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

Erotica, Mystery/Thriller, New Adult, New Adult Romance

My review: Kingston (Brothers of Hawthorne Hall #1): by Leila James

nicholasjgoodsell
Publish Date: October 3rd, 2022
Number of Pages: 468 Pages
Publisher: Kindle
Genre(s): Erotica, Reverse Harem, New Adult Romance, Mystery & Thriller

Total Star Rating: 3.75 Stars

What It’s About:

The Official Blurb:

Three men, two choices, and one secret …

A year ago, my best friend received an exclusive invitation to join an elite brotherhood at Kingston University. He went into Hawthorne Hall for his initiation … but never came out.

I intend to find out why.

The brotherhood would never knowingly invite a female into their ranks. So what if I forged my father’s signature on the recommendation? With a name like Elliot Ashford, they’ll never see me coming.

I’ll endure whatever hell these brutal brothers put me through because I have no intention of backing down or bowing out gracefully. It won’t be pretty. I’ve heard the rumors, especially about the three men in control of the brotherhood.

Kingston.
Cannon.
Archer.

I’m going in with one mission—find out what happened to Will. But the moment I set foot in this house, I have a feeling all my plans will go up in flames.

Welcome to Hawthorne Hall! Let the games begin …

***********************************************************************************

Kingston is a 94,000+ word novel, the first in a trilogy, centering around three men and one woman. It’s kind of like a sandwich—a quadruple decker with extra spice. There is a possibility that sandwich toppings will touch, if that makes sense.

WARNING: This trilogy contains dark elements, graphic content, and situations that some readers may be particularly sensitive to. If you have triggers or are even remotely unsure, please check my website, which you can access through my author page, for a full list.

~~~

This was a book that was highly recommended to me by one of my #bookstagram besties named Em because she knows I’m always game for any book that has some decent spice in it! When she started telling me the premise of these books, I will say I was immediately interested: a reverse harem, college, mystery thriller?? Ummmm LOVE that journey for me! Sign me up, and I couldn’t put these books on my kindle fast enough!

Now after reading the first book, what I can say is it’s definitely an entertaining, fast read with some really decent spice and just a dash of mystery. It definitely kept my attention, but it also could’ve been better in some regards. BUT I also didn’t care enough for certain things in the story to be better either because honestly, I just in it mainly for the spice, which definitely meets if not exceeds expectations, so that’s where most of the praise will go!

This story is about Elliot, who manages to sneak her way into Hawthorne house in order to solve the mystery of the disappearance of her best friend/cousin named Will. There’s absolutely no word as to what happened =, and everyone acts like it didn’t even happen, so she’s going on the inside in order to get her own answers. While she’s infiltrating the brotherhood as a newly incoming freshman, its there she meets the three enigmatic boys that throw everything off kilter for her: Kingston, Archer, and Cannon. Can she trust them? What do they know? And will she survive the initiation process before she’s considered a “brother?”

For the most part, I really did enjoy this book thanks to the characters! Elliot is your very typical spunky, sassy heroine who has a sharp tongue and isn’t afraid to mouth off to the alphaholes that practically infest that house that she must now call home. The boys in the Hawthorne house definitely don’t start off as very likeable, especially Kingston, who’s the frat president and a majorly bipolar a-hole through most of the book, but he’s also a HOT a-hole so it’s complicated….at leas the hate sex is hot? I like Archer the most right off the bat, but he also has camera’s set up throughout the whole house that includes people’s bedrooms, so I find that a bit creepy…and then there’s Cannon. Mr. Tall, stoic, and hot as hell, but hardly says a word. Like, his main way of communicating is text message even when he’s sitting right next to the person…it’s a little strange, but I’m sure there’s a story to it somewhere down the road…

What I Liked:

  1. The Spice! There are some HOT moments in this book, and it’s only the first one in a whole trilogy! It makes me wonder what else is in store for later down the road! I will of course be keeping reading on to find out.
  2. The Main Characters! Elliot and her boys definitely grew on me and made me keep interested to see what happened next, plus their group dynamic did add for some of the spicy scenes that I enjoyed too! Will things like that majorly change? Will she form alliances with one over the others? Turn them against each other with her vagina? Will the guys’ friendship shift with sharing? Who knows! I stand by what I said earlier, Archer is my favorite so far! BUT Kingston grew a lot on me as we got to know more about him too.

What I Didn’t Like:

  1. Too Many Names to Remember…I had a hard time right at the beginning with the literal train of men who answered the door when Elliot first showed up at Hawthorne House. Too many names all at once and throughout the book I still had trouble differentiating between some of the other frat boys, but that could also be because the author doesn’t really do much to make them stand apart from each other too much either…
  2. Not Enough Mystery… Not gonna lie, I was disappointed how it felt like the mystery took a back seat through quite a bit of the story. Sure, there was plenty of spicy scenes which I’m not complaining about, but more the several initiation scenes. I just wish the mystery and sneaking around to get answers was played up more, or a trail of clues or something!
  3. The Insta-Love…This seems to always be a thing with RH’s, but at least one of the guys is always a lovesick puppy when he first lands his eyes on the girl, and its no different here.

Conclusion:

Overall, it’s a pretty good but not great RH read. I like that it’s a college, mystery thriller one too because I honestly haven’t read too many of those! I also haven’t read the Inheritance Games Trilogy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, but I’d imagine I’d like them more if they had a similar vibe to these books with the spice and less YA story features. Actually side note, but there are a LOT of YA books I look at nowadays and am like, “This story would be so much better if it had spice!”

I’ll definitely continue to read theses books; the author gives you a satisfying amount but also leaves you wanting more, and there’s a pretty decent cliffhanger of an ending that really adds to the mystery surrounding the main plot, so it definitely keeps my interest! Plus helloooo, more spice!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

Erotica, LGBT, New Adult, New Adult Romance

My Review: Want Me (Extracurriculars #1): by Neve Wilder

nicholasjgoodsell
Publish Date: May 6th, 2019
Number of Pages: 304 Pages
Publisher: Kindle Edition
Genre(s): New Adult Romance, LGBT, Erotica

Total Star Rating: 4.25 Stars

That’s not handholding. That’s like … hand fucking. Or hand seduction. Your hand is seducing mine and my hand has zero game. It’s just gonna hop into bed with yours without dinner or a drink first. Maybe I need to give it a lecture about standards.”

– Neve Wilder, “Want Me”

What It’s About:

The official synopsis:

Two roommates. One calculus exam. A whole lot of extracurricular activity.

Nate:
Living with four other guys, it’s bound to happen.
Every guy’s been caught taking care of business at least once, right?
It shouldn’t be a big deal.

But I don’t know Eric as well as my other roommates, and things are a little awkward now.
He’s a loner. A mystery. Quietly confident. Smart.
Sexy as hell.

I’ve been happily subsisting on the typical frat guy diet of booze and sorority girls.
But the way Eric looked at me that night?
There was something there.
Something that’s got me curious.
Something that’s stirring up feelings I thought I’d left behind for good.

Something that’s making me think I’m not as straight as I thought I was.

I can’t get him off of my mind.
I don’t think I want to.

So when he offers to help me study for a midterm, I take him up on it.

It’s innocent.
Probably. Maybe.

There’s no way I could’ve known what it’d start…

~~~

Lately I’ve been in a reading slump, which I’m starting to notice is a normal thing for me in the spring time. Maybe it’s how the weather is nicer so I’m more likely to be out and about, and life just gets busier because of it to the point where I’m not concentrating as much on the books I read, and I feel the struggle with high octane, fantasy genre stories…

…this is where I turn to hot, quick, mindless smutty books to ward off the slump!

After DNFing several books prior to this one, I was relieved when I flew through this one no problem at all! It’s exactly what I’m looking for when I’m in this reading mood.

This MM romance book is HOT. Plain and simple. There’s so much sex in this story I almost want to say it’s ridiculous, but I enjoyed it way too much to even complain about it!

The story revolves around Nate and Eric, two college guys who are also roommates in the same house with three other guys living with them. Nate gets caught by Eric when he’s….taming the dragon? Having some fun with “Jill?” Whatever you want to call it, but after the initial shock, there’s a curiosity that grows between them, and then the extra push is when Nate needs help with an algebra exam coming up…Eric is right there to help him out in more ways than one!

The story is told through Nate’s perspective, and he’s an absolute delight to follow along with. His commentary is hilarious, and he’s a pretty standup guy who’s awkward and charming and easily likable. Eric is a lot more mysterious and alluring at first, and part of you questions his intentions at first, but he grows on you too as you get to know him better.

~~~

I didn’t know a lot about him beyond that he was majoring in structural engineering. And currently minoring in confusing my dick.“

– Neve Wilder, “Want Me”

What I Liked:

  1. There Is SO Much Sex! I mean….we’re talking hot AF hooking up in almost every chapter!! There definitely wasn’t a shortage of spice in this book!
  2. There Wasn’t A Random Break-Up Right Before The End! One thing I see all the time in romance novels is that dramatic breakup the couple always has to have right towards the end…like a secret gets out or there’s some last minute drama that comes between them, and luckily this sort of thing happens earlier in the book! It was refreshing because I’m always like “Okay….we know they’re gonna end up together…cut the shit!”
  3. The Banter & Dirty Talk! Eric is a sexy dirty mouthed bastard, and I love him for it! The conversations between him and Nate are a highlight, no doubt!
  4. Its Hilarious As Much As It Is Sexy! This goes with the banter a little bit, but even the narration with Nate telling the story was pretty funny! The author really knew how to sound like a guy in college!

What I Didn’t Like:

  1. There Wasn’t As Much Build Up With Other Main Characters for The Next Books…this one is kinda nit-picky, but hey, I have to include something in this section at least! There wasn’t a whole lot of development with many other characters except for maybe Marc, but he’s off screen—or page?—so often that it doesn’t feel like he does much…the author throws subtle hints that more is to come with some drama with Marc and another character, but it’s barely touched on to the point that this book feels like it could just be a standalone because it didn’t really make you feel a whole lot for the other characters.

Conclusion:

Overall, this book was EXACTLY what I needed after DNFing several books prior to it! It was hot, sweet, quick, and sexy as hell with some equally cute and tender moments between the two main characters!

There’s two more books to make this a trilogy, and while the author didn’t build up the other characters quite as much as I’d liked, the fact that this is the steamiest book I’ve read this year so far is what makes me want to keep reading and see what happens next!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

Erotica, LGBT

My Review: Try (Temptation #1): by Ella Frank

nicholasjgoodsell
**Kindle Edition**
Publish Date: November 13th, 2013
Number of Pages: 353 Pages
Publisher: Kindle
Genre(s): Erotica, LGBT, Romance

Total Star Rating: 4.25 Stars

‘I want you. Am I supposed to walk away because you’re a man? Maybe. They’ll say yes for sure. But I’m sick of all the questions running around in my head.’ Tate stopped and licked his lips. ‘I want the man who sat down across from me and changed the way I look at the world. And if that’s wrong, then I’m confused because when I’m near you, it feels so damn right.’“

– Ella Frank, “Try”

What It’s About:

The official blurb:

Try – verb: to make an attempt or effort to do something or in this case…someone.

Sex. Logan Mitchell loves it, and ever since he realized his raw sexual appeal at a young age, he has had no problem using it to his advantage. Men and women alike fall into his bed—after all, Logan is not one to discriminate. He lives by one motto—if something interests you, why not just take a chance and try?

And he wants to try Tate Morrison.

Just coming out of a four-year marriage with an ex-wife from hell, a relationship is the last thing on Tate’s mind. He’s starting fresh and trying to get back on his feet with a new job at an upscale bar in downtown Chicago.

The only problem is, Tate has caught the unwavering and unwelcome attention of Mr. Logan Mitchell – a regular at the bar and a man who always gets what he wants.

Night after night Tate fends off the persistent advances of the undeniably charismatic man, but after an explosive moment in the bar, all bets are off as he finds his body stirring with a different desire than his mind.

As arrogance, stubbornness and sexual tension sizzles between the two, it threatens to change the very course of their lives.

Logan doesn’t do relationships. Tate doesn’t do men. But what would happen if they both just gave in and…tried?

~~~

So upon doing a little research on this specific title, it’s funny to see how torn people are about it…Apparently this was the author’s first try at M/M erotic romance when she already has a big following from her M/F titles, and it seems to be that the M/F fans absolutely love it while the more experienced M/M fans aren’t so crazy about it. Personally, I’ve never read anything by this author and I have delved into both straight and gay (emphasis on M/M) erotic romance, and what I say is that it’s written incredibly well and it’s a hot, quick, mindless read.

I can agree with some of the criticism that the dialogue can be somewhat cheesy and spoken in a way in which no male actually talk like unless they’re a poet laureate, but honestly I could look past it for the most part. It’s a romance so sometimes cheesy dialogue is just a par for the course in my opinion. They also just say its M/F written like M/M which I also can kind of agree on. I noticed that for two guys, there’s a lot of crabby getting angry at one and storming off to stew about whatever, but I’m also not saying that only women act that way either, and to think otherwise is a little sexist…I don’t know, I guess like a lot of negative reviews out there, it all comes down to personal preference, and while it’s not the greatest erotic romance I’ve read, I think it still satisfied my need for some hot male-on-male action!

I suppose my only personal qualm about getting into this story is just because I have a wishy-washy preference on “Gay 4 U” type romances. I guess part of me just really questions a story when a guy goes through life straight and never questioning themselves until a specific guy comes along and flips the other guy’s world upside down. I don’t know, I guess that’s how sexuality can work for some, but I also for some reason kind of question the believability of that type of storyline. I guess it depends on the specific story and how the author has it play out. I go into this conversation in my review of Collide (Blackcreek #1) by Riley Hart because that was also a huge part of the story in that book as well.

I feel like other than that, there’s not a whole lot more to say other than just that I thought this book really appealed to my M/M romance need, and that if you’re a fan of that style of erotic romance, I—cringe because of the pun—say to just give it a try and see what you think for yourself!

What I Liked:

  1. Lots Of Greatly Written Smut! The sexual tension was actually pretty freakin’ hot! It built up rather well, and I will say that for this story it was hot to see Tate’s sexual exploration as he came to terms with his attraction to Logan, especially when he’s never been attracted to another man before. All I know is that when Tate gives into temptation and him and Logan start going at it, the spice is abundant!

What I Didn’t Like:

  1. The Very Beginning Is Strange…So the story starts off with Logan on an Airplane and he ends up hooking up with someone who’s not his main love interest, and it’s also with a woman. I get that it shows that Logan is bisexual and that he’s a total manwhore, but part of me felt weird at how this is how a M/M romance begins…It felt out of place and might’ve been just as effective if maybe he met a couple instead and had a three-way later on if not on a plane. The fact that he sleeps with a woman to join the mile high club is just an odd way to start a M/M erotic romance…
  2. The Coupling May Be Seen as Problematic…So we can all agree that consent is very important. One criticism some readers had was how pushy Logan was when he kept hitting on Tate, who at the very beginning of the story said himself that he’s straight. Some reviewers even went to say Logan was being predatory and stalkerish and that he was signaling some major red flags as Tate kept telling him no. I feel like consent was still there because we as the audience know the sex is going to happen eventually, so I find it a little weird when people complain about consent in erotic romance. Don’t we kind of already know the character is interested to some degree, even if they may not admit it right away? Besides this, I can admit it did feel like this relationship had some toxicity to it, but mainly because it was all about sneaking around and having lots of sex. It wasn’t like an actual relationship with an actual future to come later.

Conclusion:

Overall, I enjoyed this M/M book and it really satisfied the interest in reading an erotic romance title. The dialogue had its own ups and downs, but like I said earlier, I liked this book and it was just quick, mindless, and spicy as hell!

I’m surprised there’s six total books in this series, so I’m definitely curious to see how Logan and Tate’s story gets spaced out between that many volumes! I can say I’m reading on to see for myself, and enjoy a lot more steamy sex too!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell

Erotica, New Adult Romance, Romance

My Review: Four Letter Word (Dirty Deeds #1): by J. Daniels

nicholasjgoodsell
Publish Date: October 4th, 2016
Number of Pages: 416 Pages
Publisher: Forever
Genre(s): New Adult Romance, Erotica

Total Star Rating: 4.25 Stars

Love was a risk. It was wild and unpredictable. You could either hold on for the ride, not knowing how it would end, or you could let go and never know the amazing you could have had.”

– J. Daniels, “Four Letter Word”

What It’s About:

The official blurb:

Fate. Hate. Love. Lies.

Which four letter word will change their lives forever?

Sydney Paige was never so mortified to hear the words “wrong number” in her life. She meant to tell off the guy who broke her best friend’s heart but unleashed her anger on a perfect stranger instead. And now her world is turned upside down by the captivating man who wants to keep her on the line.

Brian Savage is living a life he’s quickly come to hate-until Sydney’s wild rant has him hooked and hungry for more. Soon the sexy woman on the phone becomes the lover in his bed. But Brian has secrets, and the closer he lets Syd get, the harder it is to shield her from the devastating mistakes of his past . . .

~~~

Hey guys, Glad to be back with my latest review on here, and I gotta say that this latest erotic romance title was a VERY happy surprise for me; I really enjoyed this book! I’ve never read books by this author before so I had no idea what to expect, but she really brought the spice! I was worried for the first chunk of the book because of how somber and depressing the tone was surrounding the main character, Sydney, and her predicament. But the book really picked up quickly and got a lot better from there on!

Sydney Paige has hit rock bottom as she walks out on her husband who doesn’t even look away from the TV as she does so, and moves to a new town to move in with her best friend, Tori. She decides to have a full fresh start; new home, new hair, new job, almost new everything. Both girls have been burned by the men in their lives, and Sydney does something really out of character one night and decides to call Tori’s ex and give him a piece of her mind! She calls the wrong number that’s off by one digit and that’s where the story really starts to begin…

She inadvertently meets Brian Savage and their relationship starts from there from calls and texts and late night conversations to the possibility of meeting in person. He’s not in a good place in his life either, and Sydney quickly becomes the only light he can see above all the darkness.

I quickly got wrapped into the story and really enjoyed how Brian and Sydney’s relationship developed throughout the story and how much both of them grew individually along with it. When you summarize their story it would seem so extra and over the top—I mean, what are the odds of meeting someone like this based off one wrong digit for someone’s number?—but reading it makes you really, truly believe it and that love does exist in this dark and crazy world we’re all living in.

It was a rather quick read and not too heavy, just how I like my romance novels, and the added spice of the sex scenes made it even more enjoyable than others.

I say if you’re looking for a well written, smut-filled romance that has both spice and utter sweetness, this is a choice I definitely recommend!

What I Liked:

  1. How Long It Took For Brian and Sydney To Meet! Part of the journey was how long it took these two to actually meet in real life. They start off as speech bubbles in their text chain and get closer and closer and they even have a few close calls where they would’ve met up in real life and it fills you with anxiety in the best way because you wonder if it’ll happen now or not. The author dragged out their eventual meeting in such a good way, when they eventually do it just makes it all the more explosive—in more ways than one!
  2. The Smut! This book was hot, nuff said. There were plenty of angsty, heart-wrenching deep moments in the book, but there was also a lot of hot-as-hell dirty scenes and oh so amazingly descriptive. Smut lovers will especially enjoy this book for this factor alone!
  3. Tori and Jamie! I really became invested in these two as a potential couple down the road. Tori is Sydney’s best friend, and Jamie is Brian’s, and their relationship definitely adds some sexual tension with the promise of more down the road! Tori is waitress at a local beachfront diner and Jamie is a pro surfer and total player, so him chasing her and her rolling her eyes at his lines and player antics were a fun addition to the story!
  4. How Brian and Sydney Help Heal Each Other! Both have some massive baggage going on in their lives even before they met each other, but I loved how they both help each other fight through the issues in order to become stronger on the other side of it all. It helps make their relationship and their love feel all the more powerful and real.

What I Didn’t Like:

  1. The Ending…I swear I say this about every romance novel I read, but the ending just feels really rushed and tossed together. There’s usually some issue that drives a massive wedge between the lovers and they get together in the end, but it seems like the authors just always have to throw in some last minute crisis just to add that much more drama, and it’s just something I’ve seen too often in this genre and am just not a fan of.
  2. I Didn’t Care For A Lot of the Side Characters…Besides Tori and Jamie, I just wasn’t really invested in any of the side characters. Sure, maybe that’ll change in the next books since this is a series, and they’ll get more attention when it’s their turn/book, but again besides Tori and Jamie, I’m not all that interested to see what happens down the line with most of the side characters…

Conclusion:

Overall, this was an incredibly well written erotic romance that I definitely recommend for anyone who’s looking for another of these types of books to enjoy. It’s one that isn’t by Colleen Hoover or on Booktok, but it’s still a very good story, and if you like romance novels with some good smut, I say give this a look!

Thanks for Reading!

— Nick Goodsell