Read and Review #18 - The Do-Over (M.K. Schiller)

Title: The Do-Over

Author: M.K. Schiller
Publication date: 7 October 2013
Publisher: Loose Id
Get a copy! Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:

Arrogant womanizer Kyle Manchester hates blind dates; however, when best friend, Brad calls in a favor, insisting Kyle take out his girlfriend’s sister, Kyle reluctantly agrees. Attorney Lanie Carmichael’s appearance is no surprise. She is dowdy, awkward, and dressed in so many layers she resembles a wedding cake, but not in an edible way. Her brazen attitude though, astonishes him, especially when she explains she has no interest in gorgeous Kyle. Lanie Carmichael is in love with Brad, and wants Kyle’s assistance in winning his best friend’s heart.

Kyle gradually accepts, justifying that the mystery of Lanie has sparked his natural, thirsty curiosity. As an ambitious journalist, he also can’t resist the Pulitzer worthy scoop she offers him. However, as Lanie sheds more layers, both emotionally and physically, Kyle begins to examine his life choices, and his true feelings for this enigmatic girl. With Kyle’s support, Lanie begins to unravel the secrets of her past, and the deep pain that has quietly defined her life. As they each learn more about themselves and each other, both question how a relationship built on fraudulent lies between two broken people could ever survive.

My rating:

5 / 5

My review:

My first erotica of the year! And it's fantabulous!

I was expecting tons of kinky sex with mediocre emotional attachment but this book has more emotional attachment than sex scenes. I immediately fell for Kyle despite his arrogance and shallow thinking of women. I mean, he's the typical arrogant, womanizing hero. But Lanie, now she's one of those rare heroines. She didn't fall for Kyle immediately. She didn't even try to act all pretentious around him. Their first encounter spoke nothing but intelligence and I am glad to have read that so early on in the book. No 'He's so fucking hot' and 'His biceps are amazing and his eyes are a beautiful shade of the fucking ocean'. I am so done with those shit. Best of all? No beating around the bush. No sugarcoating anything. 

At first, I didn't understand the way Lanie kept hiding herself under thick layer of clothings and became such a pushover around others except for Kyle. She was a fierce woman who knows what she wants and wouldn't hesitate to ask for it. And she wanted Brad. Brad, her colleague, a nice, charming guy and also, her sister Cassie's boyfriend. And to get Brad, she needed Kyle's help.

Now, having read tons of books like this I already expected what's going to happen and I thought, 'Well here goes the same ol' story again'. And I wasn't wrong. However, I was expecting it to be accompanied by hot sex and all that kinky-ness. 

But each sex scenes were so tender and full of emotion, mainly in Kyle's part. I mean, the man told her that they would be friends with benefits but it seems that he had been too involved earlier than her. Lanie kept her distance although I have an idea when she actually fell for him. Took him a while to coax her out of her shell that was built from self-preservation.

They have similar reasons for acting the way they did and as their secrets were unravelled, I began to understand them more. I like Lanie who was fierce without being annoying or bossy and Kyle, whose faux arrogance hid a sweet, sensitive guy.

You know who I definitely despise though? Cassie and her mother. They were so pretentious and the way they treated Lanie as if she's a disappointment made me want to punch some sense into them. I get the reason why but they were so enmeshed with their past and really, they don't deserve Lanie's love for them. When Lanie had enough of them and decided to cut them loose, I felt like it wasn't satisfying enough. I just wished someone punched Cassie at least. (I do realize that my name is also Casey))

Great read. I can't believe I finished it in one sitting. I always thought that erotica had this bunch of sex scenes in various positions, involving toys and maybe a little BDSM but this is definitely just purely emotional sex. If there are erotica written this way, I wouldn't mind venturing into this genre more.

Read and Review #9 - The Reunion Lie (Lucy King)

Title: The Reunion Lie

Author: Lucy King

Publication date: 19 November 2013

Publisher: Harlequin KISS

Get a copy! Amazon | Google Play Store | Barnes & Noble

Synopsis:

It was only meant to be a little white lie….

Inventing a fake fiancé was an act of desperation for Zoe Montgomery—a knee-jerk response to her horrifying high school reunion! But now that she's convinced London's most unattainable bachelor to play the part, her little white lie is spiraling out of control.

Because everyone wants a piece of tycoon Dan Forrester. Including Zoe! Especially once she's seen the view from his bedroom—this might be a fake engagement, but she's certainly not faking anything else!

Now the reunion is over, and Zoe and Dan have convinced the world they're meant to be! But convincing each other? A whole different challenge….

My rating:

4 out of 5 wants to hit on a random guy in bars

My review:

When I first read the synopsis for this book, I immediately thought that it would be a good read. After I realize that this book is published by Harlequin, I dialed down on my expectation of an excellent love story because having read a bunch of Harlequin books, yes, they are tear-jerkers but they always lacked something. Maybe because usually the stories are short and left me unsatisfied by the end. 

This story is no exception. However! It felt real, the connection between Dan and Zoe. They were held back by their past but instead of handling them with elaborate plans or denial, they actually dealt with their problems like grown-ups. At least to me it felt that way. Both are straight-forward and there was no beating around bush when it comes to saying what they want from each other. 

The downside of reading this was that there was too much stuffed in a very short story. I did mention that the connection between Dan and Zoe are real but come to think of it, it was missing that impact, that bonding moment that seals the relationship. The best way I could describe is that their relationship was a slow build-up, like most relationship these days. Nice and slow, hardly any intense moments. Apart from Dan getting mad at Zoe for betraying his trust but even that didn't feel intense and before I could wallow in the piercing pain, it was cut short by revelation after revelation. I guess I just love drama in my romance.

It's a fast read, still managed to jerk a tear or two or ten but don't expect too much from it. Books published under Harlequin are usually short and sweet and almost always have a happy ending. If you're looking for an intense, dramatic, tear-jerker romance, this will cut you short.