Library Loot Mini-Reviews: Earnest Pretentiousness

Yes, librarians use the library.  At least this librarian does. I also, apparently, haven't figured out that I can suspend my holds because they all came in at once.  So it's time for more library reading mini-reviews!

I read about Pulp by Robin Talley over at Love in Panels and was intrigued by the set-up.  Present-day teenager, still pining for her ex-girlfriend, troubled by her parents' unraveling marriage and, normally an exceptional student, letting her studies slide at her chichi Washington D.C. magnate high school. She has a big project due in her creative writing class, the kind that's pretty much thesis-like, and in a mad scramble for an idea (an idea!) lands on writing about 1950s lesbian pulp novels.  That's how she learns about "Marian Love," who wrote a seminal lesbian pulp novel in the late '50s and dropped off the face of the Earth.

This is a time-slip novel that goes between our heroine in present day and "Marian Love" in the 1950s - an 18-year-old girl, in the closet, living at home with her McCarthy-disciple parents.  This one took a while to catch fire for me, mostly because I found the characters in the present day storyline earnest in the extreme.  They're activist kids (not a complaint) but also self-absorbed in that special way that teenagers have about them.  But look, I'm old. I'm not the target audience. And I was a teenager once upon a time. Pretty sure my parents' generation thought the same thing about me and my friends. YMMV.  Anyway, what kept me moving forward on this book was the 1950s storyline and the present day heroine's sleuthing to find the real "Marian Love."  Oh how I wanted to get to that moment when these two meet!  It's romantic elements but doesn't have a traditional happy ending - which honestly, is fine.  The final "lesson" is that teenage girls, well your life is just beginning.  Grab it by the giblets.  Final Grade = B-

I'm Your Huckleberry by Val Kilmer is a memoir that should be good. Instead it's scattershot and gets lost in the weeds.  He talks about his movies, but on a superficial level.  He talks about his past girlfriends, but doesn't really unpack that baggage.  Why did they break up? Why is he divorced?  Insert shrug emoji.  Reading in between the lines, and through this book, it's probably because Kilmer is borderline insufferable.  There's lots of spiritual talk in this book - Kilmer being a practicing Christian Scientist.  But he wanders off into these spiritual musings and...not why I'm reading your book dude.  I mean, I guess I should have clued in sooner when I realized he was a great friend and admirer of Marlon Brando.  Insert hand smacking forehead emoji.

If you're read any of the articles or reviews for this book, honestly you've already got all the juicy bits.  The only revelation missing so far is this one I'll share with you.  Contrary to press coverage from when she was dating John-John, Daryl Hannah and Jackie O were great friends.  Jackie LIKED Daryl.  They spent time together before Jackie died.  Although I'd argue that Jackie may have liked Daryl but possibly becoming the wife to the Crown Prince is another kettle of fish entirely.

I burned through this on audio in a matter of a couple of days, but mostly to be done with it.  This should have been good.  Narrator: It was not.  Final Grade = D

Library Loot Mini-Reviews: Sexy Times and Gothic Gone Wrong

I realize this is going to sound silly coming from someone who has a TBR pile that can be seen from space, but I miss being able to just casually wander into public spaces where books congregate.  Never mind that I don't read a ton in print these days - I miss the ability to walk into a bookstore or library just to browse.  COVID-19 has had a way of making me appreciate life's small joys.

I find myself spending a lot of time at The Day Job right now trolling through our digital collections and naturally, I find myself putting my own name on some holds lists.  Since all my holds seem to be coming in at once? I thought it would be fun to highlight some of my recent library borrowing with mini-reviews.

I'm always game when Harlequin launches a new line but to be honest none of the blurbs on the early Dare books sparked my imagination.  There's been a few recently however, and Hotter On Ice by Rebecca Hunter is the most recent.  How do I want to phrase this?  How about meh.  My issue so far with the Dare line (or at least the books in the Dare line I've read...) has been that while the sex is hot, the books lack what drives me to read romance in the first place - all the angsty emotional messiness that can lurk between the pages.  There's just not a ton of emotional oomph and I LOVE emotional oomph.  That being said, my sample size so far on the line is ridiculously small so it could just be I haven't found the right book yet.

This is book four in a series about a bunch of guys who work at a security agency.  Our hero in this book is former law enforcement who was injured in a drug raid gone wrong and he's now the computer surveillance guy for this agency.  Anyway, the heroine is a model who's ex-boyfriend turned out to be a stalker douchebag.  He hasn't been bothering her for a while, but she's also been keeping a lower profile.  She's landed a modeling gig in Sweden (at an ice hotel) and her former bodyguard just married her younger sister - so she needs a new bodyguard.  Enter our hero.  There's some slow burn angst in the backstory (he was monitoring her security cameras prior to them meeting in the flesh) and it's got a Beauty and the Beast vibe.  Liked that the douchebag ex stays firmly off-page and that the heroine stands up for herself in the end but the romance felt very "surface" to me - again, because the lack of emotional oomph.  But it's a quick read and this is very much a YMMV sort of critique.  My final grade is waffling between a B- and C+

I heard about The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni at the PLA (Public Library Association) conference and the magic word was used: "Gothic."  My Pavlovian response kicked in and the rest is a whole mountain of regrets.  Warning: THERE SHALL BE SPOILERS!

The heroine, an only child, whose marriage is on the skids and whose grandparents AND parents are all gone - finds out she's the heir to a frickin' castle in a remote mountainous area of Italy.  She goes to said crumbling castle which is home to a few creepy servants, a great-aunt by marriage and whoa-ho! Her creepy great-grandmother.  Her grandfather fled Italy right after the war - why?  Creepiness, of course!

The book starts out in classic Gothic horror fashion. The great-grandmother is painted as a monster, there are shenanigans afoot and then whamo! Turns out there's a secret tribe of lost people living in the mountains (painted as genetic ancestor-like throwbacks) that Dear Old Granny has been taking care of.  The heroine runs off to the mountains to live with them and it's part white savior narrative, part Dances With Wolves rip-off.  All that Gothic horror stuff in the first half?  Completely out the window.  Now it's all genetics and how the heroine's great-great whatever douchebag lived with the tribe and felt the only way for them to survive was for them to mate with regular ol' people like himself - but instead it all kind of goes sideways.

I just - what the heck even is this?!  And why did I keep listening to this audiobook?!  Especially when evil monster great-granny turns out to be some misunderstood white savior looking after these poor ol' tribal folk who can't take care of themselves?  Honestly, it's all kind of gross and SOOOOOO disappointing.  Stupid Pavlovian response. Regrets, I haz them.  Final Grade = D-

Unusual Historical Highlights for April 2020

Somehow we’ve ended up in April. I’m not sure how it happened but one moment I was looking forward to burying 2019 out in the desert like a Las Vegas mobster and then the next I’m trying to figure out how to do my job in a post-COVID-19 world. On the bright side, I’m past a string of books I was obligated to read for various reasons and I’m diving head first into comfort reading. For me that means category romance, mysteries and historical romance. Because nothing will take me away faster than a time period I’m not currently living in. Here are some of the unusual historicals landing in April that caught my browsing eye.

Forbidden Warrior by Kris Kennedy

An Irish warrior takes an arrogant heiress captive to ensure a debt is paid. What could possibly go wrong?  

Irish warrior Máel has come to a grand tournament to collect what's due him from a scheming noble lord. When the baron cannot--or will not--pay, Máel takes the one thing the man holds dear: his beautiful, arrogant daughter, Cassia.  

Lady Cassia d'Argent has no time for warriors.  

Heiress to a barony, she knows her value: a pawn. She intends to make the most of it. Her wily father plans to wed her off to the highest bidder at the tournament, and Cassia will finally achieve her dream: a chivalrous knight in glittering armor to honor and esteem her.  

Only Máel is nothing like her dreams. He is bold, outspoken, has furs on his bed, and awakens a desire inside her more dangerous than a thousand swords.  

What if this man becomes the dream she never dared to dream?  

What if her father never pays the debt?  

Worse...what if he does?  

Can she rely on an outlaw to be more chivalrous than a knight? 

Kennedy is a criminally underrated historical romance author with an RWA Golden Heart on her resume. She writes what I call Very Medieval Medievals - which is to say the only way she’d know wallpaper is if she moonlighted as an interior designer. This is the first book in a multi-author series, so more medieval tournament fun is on the horizon.

The Hidalgo’s Wife by Genevieve Turner

He wants a lady, not a temptation…  

When Alejandro Vasquez sends for a wife from Mexico City, the glittering capital of New Spain, he imagines a lady of refinement and breeding—not an enchantress who tests his iron will. With secrets to protect, he’s determined to resist her allure and keep his carefully constructed life from falling to pieces.  

The California frontier is nothing like home…  

Josefa expects to find adventure and a long-awaited family to call her own when she agrees to marry Alejandro. But Alta California is shockingly unrefined—no society, no watercolors, no books. At least her husband is the perfect gentleman… and utterly distant and unapproachable, in and out of the bedroom. Josefa refuses to settle for anything less than the passionate union of her dreams, and she’ll do whatever it takes to set her husband’s heart free.  

But secrets and danger lurk, threatening to tear their newly formed bonds apart. Will they cling to their safe illusions about what love should be or dare to seize a future beyond their wildest imaginings? 

A lady used to the refinement of Mexico City and eager for family finds herself in backwater California with a distant husband. No matter, we know that these are mere bumps in the road for an intrepid romance heroine! Turner writes in an era of California history that has largely been ignored in historical romance - western fans should take note. 

The Flapper’s Fake Fiance by Lauri Robinson

 An inconvenient attraction…  

To her convenient fiancé!  

Patsy Dryer may be a biddable heiress by day, but nothing will stop her from dancing all night in Hollywood’s speakeasies—or fulfilling her dream of becoming a reporter. She’s investigating the mystery of an escaped convict with brooding, handsome newspaper editor Lane Cox…until they must pretend to be engaged! With their scoop linked to Lane’s tragic past, dare Patsy hope for a happy ending for their own story, too? 

Good girl with a rebellious streak finds herself in a pretend engagement in order to ferret out a story. Heroine reporters can go wrong in a lot of ways, but I see promise in this back cover blurb (it sounds like the heroine knows how to play the game!) and a brooding, handsome newspaper editor with a mystery attached? I’m in.

The Thief by Bonnie Dee

Street hustler Jody plays any role that will win the confidence of a mark. His sights are set on Lord Cyril Belmont, a potential ticket to financial freedom that could change Jody’s life. With a fake investment scheme in mind and larceny in his heart, he sets a snare for the wealthy gentleman.  

Cyril Belmont may have a title but he’s as broke as a china plate and on the verge of selling his dilapidated country estate to start a new life in America. When his quiet, solitary life is invaded by a bright, passionate man who sets his head spinning, Cyril is ready to share whatever he has with the electrifying stranger—including the deepest recesses of his heart.  

As Jody begins to cultivate inexplicable feelings for the sweet, gentle man who raises rare orchids, he intends to end his seduction and slink back to the ghetto. But then his cover is blown and the budding romance is crushed.  

It takes an ocean voyage and several unexpected twists of fate to bring two strangers to a true understanding of each other and the very real bond they share. 

Set in the early 20th century, a conman hero falls for his not-so-wealthy mark. This one promises plenty of intrigue, secrets and there’s a ton of potential angst dripping between the lines of this back cover blurb. Plus there’s an ocean voyage! 

The Warrior Knight and the Widow by Ella Matthews

Protected by The Beast…  

Undone by the man  

Racing cross-country pursued by danger, widow Lady Ellena Swein isn’t pleased to be taken back to her father’s castle. But with his knight Sir Braedan Leofric, also known as The Beast, as her captor, she has little choice! Ellena is surprised by his honorable and protective nature, even if she shouldn’t trust him. And when all seems to conspire against them, Braedan’s secret could either extinguish the spark between them—or make it burn brighter...

Another medieval for April, this one from debut author Ella Matthews. This is book 1 in a two-book deal with Harlequin Historical and features an Beauty & the Beast trope with a dash of enemies-to-lovers and road romance for good measure. All of it Wendy Catnip.

What Unusual Historicals are you looking forward to this month?

#TBRChallenge 2020: The Lady Flees Her Lord

The Book: The Lady Flees Her Lord by Ann Lethbridge

The Particulars: Historical romance, 2008, Sourcebooks, Out of Print, Rights Reverted / Available Self-published digital edition

Why Was It In Wendy's TBR?: According to my notes I picked up the Sourcebooks edition of this historical romance (published under the author's Michele Ann Young name) at RWA 2009 (Washington D.C.). So yes, this book has been in my TBR for over 10 years. Don't hate the player, hate the game.  Anyway, I know I picked this up because, if memory serves, Sourcebooks was fairly new to the whole romance thing at the time and I knew that Young was also Ann Lethbridge, who I was familiar with from her work with Harlequin Historical.  So taking a flier to pick up this book, for free, seemed like a safe bet.  Ahem, even if it did languish in my TBR for 10 years....

The Review: I haven't read many historical romances so far in 2020 and this one went down like comfort food.  Like if macaroni and cheese and mashed potatoes had a baby.  It didn't hold a lot of surprises, and it gets a wee melodramatic at the end, but the pages easily turned and I liked the characters.  It didn't change my life, but believe me I've stumbled on way worse lurking in the depths of my TBR.

Lucinda, Lady Denbigh is married to a vile man. Oh she once thought she was so lucky - a plump, full-figured gal who bagged a handsome, very eligible man - only to discover he only wanted her for her father's money and to be a broodmare.  Years into the marriage, she's barren, he berates her as a cold fish, and heaps emotional abuse on her.  Worse still, his gambling is out of control and he's fallen in with a distasteful crowd.  She has no choice but to flee in the middle of the night.

Through a series of happenstance she picks up an orphaned infant girl along the way.  Yes, it's the height of melodrama but stick with me here.  Anyway, Lucinda tries to find the child's "mother" fast because she needs to get the heck out of London.  But that doesn't happen, there's no time, and the idea of placing the child in a foundling home turns her stomach.  She's ached to become a mother, so why not now?  Plus the kid provides a certain amount of camouflage. Lady Denbigh, after all, is barren.

Original Cover

She ends up in Kent, renting the dower house from Lord Hugo Wanstead, a fact he only learns after he nearly runs her daughter down with his horse.  Newly returned from the war, where he was injured, Hugo finds his country estate in disrepair thanks to Dear Old Dad.  His injury pains him, he's Brooding with a Capital B, and wants Lucinda gone - only to realize 1) she paid a year's worth rent in advance (which, that's explained) and 2) he's flat broke and his estate manager was desperate for the infusion of cash.

We all know where this is going.  Hugo and Lucinda are a perfect match but she is holding back the mother of all secrets and he's got emotional baggage up the wazoo thanks to his father and a dead wife.  He's in lust with Lucinda from the moment he lays eyes on her - he's a rather large man and she's all soft, lush curves in all the right places.  Soon she's bringing him out of his shell, he's playing Lord of the manor, and everybody in town is taken with her.  But wouldn't you know it? Her past comes back to haunt her. Because of course it does.

This was a quick one-day read for me (and it's single title length - so right book, right time - a true Calgon-take-me-away read) although anytime Lucinda's husband is on page it's a tough go.  I understand that infidelity is a non-starter for a lot of romance readers, but seriously this guy is such an a-hole that you want him to get absolutely everything that's coming to him.  His emotional abuse is hard to read, berating her for her weight, her frigidity, forcing her on a diet etc.  He's also prepared to essentially prostitute her out, which is ultimately what tips the scales to her fleeing in the dead of night. 

Extricating Lucinda from Denbigh was a definite factor in the speed in which I kept turning the pages. This was Regency England, so a woman divorcing a husband, albeit an abusive a-hole of a husband, would not have been easy (heck, it's not easy now) and Lethbridge puts a clever bow on that particular package.  Oh sure, it's the height of melodrama and a bit out of left field but it IS interesting and I'm down with interesting.

The sex scenes got a bit purple for my tastes, but I believe these two crazy kids are well-suited and well-matched, although Lucinda reverting back a bit at the end to damsel annoyed me a tinch.  I liked this world that Lethbridge created, and since republishing this book she's followed it up with a sequel about one of the heroine's brothers.  Good, not great, but time I don't regret spending.

Final Grade = B-

Review: Slow Dance with the Best Man

I've said it before, I'll say it again - I'll suspend a lot of disbelief when there's a skilled writer driving the bus.  I'm not sure where Sophie Pembroke has been all my category reading life, but if Slow Dance with the Best Man is any indication I need to go diving into my Kindle to see what else I have languishing there.

Eloise Miller has spent a lifetime fading into the background thanks to an actress mother (big fish, small pond of local theater) who had a habit of falling in love with her leading men, humiliating Eloise's father (who always took her back, natch) and made Eloise the target of local mean girl, Melissa Sommers.  Well, Melissa Sommers is now an "actress" - or at least another Hollywood pretty face ("actress" might be overstating things) and she's engaged to "actor" Riley Black and has a giant ring to prove it.  Now Melissa is back in her small English hometown, at Morwen Hall, the Gothic manor estate that is now a world-class hotel to get married and run everyone ragged.  Eloise worked there as a teen and once she finished university she went back to her hometown and is vying for the manager role.  Pulling off Melissa's wedding will be a serious feather in her cap, assuming she can keep from strangling the bride.

Noah Cross got his start in traveling Shakespearean theater troupes, but these days he's the personification of superficial leading man - shallow action movies where lots of stuff blows up and parts that play heavily on his charm.  He feeds into this with superficial relationships and being seen about town with an impressive variety of pretty faces.  But he's getting restless and his agent has sent him a script for a part he would kill to land.  The problem? It's a serious movie, a serious part, and Noah has been placed in his typecast box.  So when his agent somehow manages to get a video call set up with the script's writer and director, she makes Noah promise to keep a low profile and behave himself.  The problem being he keeps getting distracted by a certain pretty hotel manager....

This is a light, fluffy concoction set around The Wedding Of The Moment that ticks all the boxes.  You've got Melissa, a villain you can't help but hate, and a main couple both hiding behind past baggage neither has begun to unpack.  Given Eloise's childhood she thinks of actors in much the same way as cockroaches in a kitchen, and Noah has been playing Mr. Superficial Good Time in response to a past tragedy he's refused to deal with.  However once these two lock eyes, they both recognize that there's something between them - something that frankly scares the heck out of both of them.

How well a reader enjoys this story depends entirely on how much they can suspend their disbelief.  Noah and Eloise fall for each other right away and the flirting kicks in immediately.  They fight the attraction until they can't any longer, tumble into bed, and then do a disaster job of trying to keep the fling (which isn't really a fling but they're both deluding themselves at this point) on the down low.  Until, of course, it all comes tumbling out into the open.  We're talking a matter of days here.  So the reader has to buy into the idea of a Hollywood star falling in love with A Nobody in a matter of days when they both have baggage that have kept them from "serious relationships" for some time.

I could do that, mostly because I was utterly charmed by the story, the couple and the sparks shooting off between them.  The Romance line is an on-the-page low heat line but that doesn't mean the books can't sizzle - and this one does, thanks to Noah's roguish charm and Eloise's push back to his flirting.  The sex scenes may be closed door but believe you me, I had no doubt these two were hot for each other in the all the right ways.  It also doesn't hurt matters that Pembroke can write.

A new-to-me-author, an enjoyable romance, a pure fun escapist delight.  Now I'm off to scour my TBR for more Sophie Pembroke....

Final Grade = B+

Reminder: #TBRChallenge Day is April 15!

A reminder that #TBRChallenge day is Wednesday, April 15.  This month's (always optional) theme is Freebie.

In a bid to shake some dust off the Challenge, I decided to toss in a few more "open-ended" themes this year.  "Freebie" can be whatever you wish it to be. Free pick month? A book you got for free? Some other iteration? Go where the spirit moves you.

However, if you're not in the mood, can't be bothered, whatever your reasons may be....no problem!  Remember, the themes are always optional.

You can learn more about the Challenge and see the list of participating folks on the Information Page.

Mini-Review: Billionaire, Boss...Bridegroom?

I've spent the first quarter of 2020 doing what I call "obligation reading" and then hit a slump at the tail end thanks to work stress and COVID-19.  Well, I finally got past those obligation books and the first stop on Wendy's Going To Read What She Wants meant comfort read.  The Harlequin Romance line is my go-to for comfort reading. The books just feel like warm hugs to me.  So I went diving deep into my Kindle and pulled up Billionaire, Boss...Bridegroom? by Kate Hardy.

Bella Faraday was working as a freelance graphic designer until a traitorous boyfriend cleaned out her savings account and her biggest client went bankrupt. She's just landed a job with an independent music label in London when she gets a call from her sister. Her even-keeled, totally responsible sister who has just called off her engagement.  Bella is riding to the rescue when she hops in the nearest taxi only to discover it's already occupied. Um, by her new boss - Hugh Montcrieff. 

Hugh is the youngest of five and the only one not working for the family's brokerage firm.  He's set to head to the country house to celebrate one of his brothers' engagements - but he's not relishing more pressure to give up his record label "hobby" or to finally "settle down."  He's charmed and taken by Bella and thinks she could be the answer to his problem.  His proposal? Spend the weekend with his family and play the role of totally unsuitable new girlfriend.

Hugh suffers from an abundance of what I call Romance Hero Logic. He's not the progeny of Evil Romance Novel Family Genes, his family is legit lovely - so why he just doesn't, oh I don't know, TALK to his parents...but then we wouldn't have a plot contrivance.  Bella basically says as much to him but agrees to the charade.  The problem, of course, is that's she's bloody terrible at it. She may show up wearing outrageous clothes, but she can't hide her caring and charming temperament.

I liked Bella tremendously and it's the kind of warm hug atmosphere I'm a sucker for in Harlequin Romance.  But this hero y'all.  Besides the Romance Hero Logic, he gives the heroine a dreaded ultimatum at the end all because his last relationship flamed out when he mixed business with pleasure.  So one of THOSE heroes.  Bella, blessedly, doesn't cave to his stupid ultimatum even if she does love him and her heart is shattered.  He eventually realizes what an idiot he is and we get our happy ending. Although I'm left with the feeling that he doesn't deserve Bella or his lovely family for that matter. What a butthead.

But as a comfort read during a time when I desperately needed one, this fits the bill.  I just feel like Bella deserved better.

Final Grade = C+

Retro Review: If This Bed Could Talk

Original Cover

This review of If This Bed Could Talk by Liz Maverick, Kimberly Dean and Lynn LaFleur was first published by The Romance Reader in 2006. Back then I rated it 4 Hearts (B grade) with a sensuality rating of NC-17. 

+++++

Yes, another erotica imprint. After catapulting to popularity thanks to smaller presses and electronic publishers, the latest major house to jump on the bandwagon is Avon. Despite being marketed as “hot, sexy fiction” romance readers will be happy to note that every story in this launch anthology features a happily-ever-after. They also feature some wicked sexual tension, effectively dispelling the myth that erotica is nothing more than mechanical sex with no emotion behind it.

Liz Maverick gets things started with Agent Provocateur, which features some unsavory plot devices that would sink this story in no time flat if not for the incredible chemistry between hero and heroine. Vienna James is a gunrunner who has just been arrested for the third time. Three strikes and you’re out in this futuristic world means one thing – slavery.

Vienna is on the auction block and the only thing that will save her from execution is if someone buys her. Michael Kingston buys Vienna because she’s the spitting image of his brother’s traitorous former fiancé. He wants Vienna to seduce their enemy, and steal back something he took from his brother. However when he goes to “train” her, he finds himself falling under her spell. It makes handing her blithely over to the villain a bit more complicated.

A hero who buys the heroine and a revenge plot could have made this a disastrous story, but the sexual tension is enough to peel wallpaper. This is one hot, sexy read – well advertised and delivered. 

Next up is Kimberly Dean with Unrequited. Trista Christiansen is on a date. Her divorce from her professional baseball player ex has been final for eight months and her friends have been urging her to get back out there. Thanks to her date’s ineptitude, they end up eating dinner in a sports bar. The same sports bar where her ex-brother-in-law is enjoying a game of darts and a beer after a long day at work.

Ty cannot believe that Trista is on a date! Especially with such a weenie. He’s had a thing for her for a long time, but she was always Denny’s girl. Well Denny screwed up, and he’s ready to take a shot. Now to convince Trista that they belong together.

Unrequited love is such a great, bittersweet theme. Ty is a blue-collar guy who stayed away from Trista out of respect for his selfish baby brother. Trista is hesitant to get involved with Ty even though she’s wildly attracted to him. Plus, she always considered him a “friend.” That’s the last thing she wants to mess up. Like the Maverick story, the sexual tension leaps off the page, and the final moment when Trista realizes that Ty is the one for her is sweet, sexy and touching.

Last on the list is Lynn LaFleur’s Victim Of Deception, which features one of the more imaginative plots I’ve come across in a while.

Karessa Austin has just inherited a Victorian house from her Aunt Grace. She was thinking of selling, but once she sees the old girl she decides to renovate and move in. Maxwell Hennessey is a professional treasure hunter who is sure a very old, very valuable bearer bond is hidden in the Victorian. One small problem, he used to date Karessa and betrayed her over a “job” he was on. No matter, she’s renovating – he’ll use his connections to get on the job site.

LaFleur’s tale is actually a story within a story – with the Victorian being haunted by Karessa’s great-great grandparents who were murdered. Mary and Aaron have been stuck in limbo over the last 100 years, and feel the key to their freedom is through Karessa and Max reuniting. Luckily, they don’t interfere too much – as Max and Karessa have never truly gotten over each other. All they need a little nudge.

The sex in all of these stories is hot, hot stuff – with LaFleur pushing the envelope almost off the table. That said, all of these characters truly care about each other – giving all of the stories a depth of emotion, and ratcheting up the sexual tension into the stratosphere. With many jumping on the growing erotica bandwagon, I’ll admit I was skeptical. What a pleasant surprise to find three authors, all in the same anthology, getting it all so right. Sit back, enjoy the ride, and lose yourself in the fantasy.

+++++

Wendy Looks Back: The mid-2000s was when The Big Five decided to jump on the erotic romance bandwagon, and this included Harpercollins, who launched Avon Red in 2006.  In fact this anthology was one of the launch titles, hence the first sentence of the first paragraph in this review.  Also, remember 2006. I'm aware I called it "erotica" and that's misleading.  Remember we were still fumbling around in the dark and hadn't settled on labeling such books as "erotic romance" as of yet.

The anthology itself is hard to find, but all three stories are available to purchase as stand-alone novellas (thank you digital boom).  I have very little recall on any of these but something buried in the back of my lizard brain makes me think the Kimberly Dean story was my favorite of the bunch.  And not gonna lie, I'm half tempted to reread the LaFleur story to see if I still think she pushes the envelope off the table.  (Ghost sex? I'm wondering if it was ghost sex....)