Wildest Dreams by Sarah Sanders

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Review-lite

…because…

• Sizzling sex
• Madly appealing MCs
• Great chemistry
• Lovely relationship
• Bonus: a brief appearance of one of our character-loves: Radhika from Jump then Fall

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

  

      

Lockset by Brenda Murphy

 ⭐⭐⭐☆

Eunice (Eun) Park is a litigator in Chicago and has been with the same firm for fifteen years. She is estranged from her father who, in their last meeting five years back, had gathered a group from his church to pray the gay out of her. 

When Eun receives a call from her father asking to meet her, she demurs and pushes it away to a couple of weekends later. But the meeting never materialises because her father dies of a massive coronary before that. So Eun goes back to settle the estate. 

Morgan Wright is a locksmith working with her father in a business owned by them and also a part-time animal shelter volunteer. Morgan and her sister were the people who discovered Eun’s father’s body when they responded to a call about a dog. Morgan takes the dog back home, since she almost instantly bonds with him. 

When Eun comes to town, she is in in multiple messes – dealing with her father’s demise, grappling with her extended family’s homophobic hate and getting a hard time at work amongst other things.

She hooks up with Morgan almost instantly thinking it would be just a hook-up driven by the overwhelming emotions she is trying to handle. However, the hook-up becomes more over even while there seems to be some mystery surrounding her father’s accounts and personal life. 

This is most definitely an erotic romance. There are lots (in all caps) frankly hot sex scenes – much like Jump Then Fall and Begin Again by Sarah Sanders. 

Given her circumstances, Eun’s pull-push-indifference behaviour with a truly supportive and all-round great partner-material Morgan becomes somehow explicable and you really root for them to get onto the same page fast. The mystery parts are okay but the relationship rules. And of course, the sex.

This is a pretty okay read.

⭐⭐⭐☆

The Lesbian Billionaires Last Hope by KC Luck

 

⭐⭐⭐

Review-lite

…because…the next predictable instalment of the predictable stories in the series

• Unimaginably rich, closeted women from across the world form a closed association: The Lesbian Billionaires Club 
• Extremely predictable (slim) stories of each billionaire told with heavy-handed tediousness
• To be fair, this one has more of a storyline than the two preceding it
• Lots of sex – these books are all erotic romances
• Hope is rather likeable
• These billionaires have absolutely suck-y security – all of them in all the books
• The next one promises to be one starring socially awkward billionaire, Kris, and billionaire arch-villain, Georgia DeLane who is almost a cartoonish caricature, but still our favourite character in this series  

⭐⭐⭐

Lix: A Lesbian Romance (Lix Club Book 1) by Emily Hayes

⭐⭐⭐

This is erotica with a thin veneer of romance.

Kelly Quinn is the owner of Lix an exclusive women's club which offers an environment for all manner of kink with non-judgemental acceptance. Lauren, a very femme, currently single lady is encouraged by an ex who is currently a good friend to explore Lix by herself to help her move out of her comfort zone. The day is the club's Leather & Lingerie theme.

Quinn is immediately attracted to Lauren and vice versa. However, Quinn is dealing (or not) with her own dark memories and is strictly a no-relationship person. Lauren is not particularly looking for a relationship either. But ultimately things do get more serious between the two.

This is erotica. Make no mistake about that. There is BDSM -- more the domme-sub dynamic than physical pain (though there is some of that too on a mild level). There is voyeurism and exhibitionism. There is lots of sex.

Quinn is forty-eight and though we don't recall Lauren's age, this is an age-gap lust driven relationship. The one thing we really liked in the dynamic was the fact though Lauren is described as a natural submissive during sex, she is no pushover otherwise. She's not willing to take any crumbs given by Quinn and has enough self-esteem to know she deserves better. We also liked the fact that each time Quinn behaved like an ass or shortchanged Lauren, she apologised and corrected her behaviour. The dialogue is stilted and unrealistic but that's really not a big draw for this one.

As an erotic romance, this is one of the better reads.

⭐⭐⭐

Night Life by S.J. Hartsfield

⭐⭐⭐⭐

This one has the setting of a romcom but is written with the seriousness and earnestness of a romance. It still works.

Ronnie Kent is the "hottest blonde" escort on the roster of Night Life, an escort agency owned by one Karla. Ronnie enjoys her work and is the most popular escort in the agency. When an unusual booking is accepted by Karla at a premium price, Ronnie is the girl of choice. The booking is unusual inasmuch it is not made by the end client and the contract that ensures a clean health undertaking is not signed by the client either. Though this is not okay, the money is phenomenal and Ronnie rather likes the idea of being a 'gift', so off she goes.

Ronnie's client is Diana Silver, child of wealthy parents whose mother has political ambitions. Diana's mom disses Diana's education in hospitality but nevertheless has Diana working as an event organiser (party planner) in the family business. The overbearing mother is also not the least bit subtle about trying to matchmake and finds a suitable match in Evelyn for Diana and throws them together under the guise of the two of them working for her campaign. 

After a tentative start to their evening together, Ronnie and Diana have a exceptional time together. So much so that Ronnie can't wait to be hired by Diana again. 

Soon Diana becomes Ronnie's 'regular' and Karla happily fleeces Ronnie into paying stupid prices for Ronnie. However, Ronnie, Diana, Karla and Diana's mom did not consider the possibility of feelings rising between Ronnie and Diana.

This is an erotic romance. Erotica drives the romance and almost every scene featuring Ronnie and Diana together is a sex scene (through most of the book). But there are enough feelings (especially in Ronnie) to also make this a romance.

Ronnie is quite lovely. Diana is weirdly helpless and wimpish with the whole mom dynamic. Plus her lack of spine and leading Evelyn (who is a stellar person) on is miles away from endearing. Also, her tendency to treat Ronnie as hired help is less than nice or loving or romantic. That the romance works despite Diana is a tribute to Ronnie's likeability factor and the awesomely hot sex scenes.

Entirely unexpected is the adorable epilogue. Now that certainly brought a smile on our face and ratcheted up the rating for the book. 

This is an enjoyable read, on the whole.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Off Balance by L. E. Royal

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆★

L. E. Royal is a must-read author for us. Well-realised characters, rocking chemistry, convincing relationships -- her books have it all.

Maya Scott is the newest employee with the Mars Fund. At twenty-two, Maya hasn't had an easy life. And there is one person, Robert Holt, determined to kick her down and keep her there. Holt also happens to be the grandfather of Maya's three year old daughter, Livvie. In a dick move, Holt managed to wrangle Liv's custody from the scared and confused teenager that Maya was when Liv was born. Ever since then, Maya is struggling to prove herself stable and capable and get her daughter back. 

Maya has an unfortunate and embarrassing first encounter with her boss, Elena Mars. Elena suffers from cerebral palsy but doesn't let that slow her down in any way. She is driven and tough, and works herself and her team hard. 

Liv proves to be an unexpected bridge between Maya and Elena and neither the fourteen years between them nor the vast gap between their financial statuses matters.

Maya and Elena are brilliantly written. Individually, they have all the complexes and complexities that make then entirely real and together their relationship has depths and dimensions that makes it just simply awesome.

Elena's difficulties and struggles are inescapable, incomparable and cannot be overstated. But Maya's difficulties and struggles, though of a different kind, are also as real and as valid. The beautiful part is how each one is there for the other in the way they are needed. How they both make an effort to learn about the place the other is in and what they can do to support -- Maya reading about cerebral palsy and Elena reading about toddler development goals are the obvious examples.

We absolutely love the part where Maya tells Elena that she doesn't entirely understand Elena's condition, but wants to and asks her to talk to her. In the flow of the story, this was incredibly beautiful. In fact, all the ways that Maya shows her love for Elena is heart-squeezingly gorgeous. The less obvious part of loving is that Elena let's Maya love her like the way she does. Uncontrollable physical difficulties have a huge mental and emotional toll. The defensiveness and need-to-prove one's self-sufficiency can be insurmountable hurdles. It requires Maya kind of expansive and unwavering love to overcome this hurdle. And it requires a leap of faith from Elena to allow it. We also loved the parts where Maya and Elena have disagreements and fights that play out in line the complexes they have as individuals. That is very insightful writing.

Liv and Maya's non-binary best friend and their girlfriend are delightful supporting characters. 

This one is definitely romantic erotica -- lots of fabulous sexy times driven by feelings and the relationship between the leading ladies. 

Royal gives us a book that has all the feels, amazing chemistry, multi-dimensional characters, hot sex, an adorable child and, Maya.

This book is most recommended.

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆★

Just One Reason by Jaime Clevenger

⭐⭐⭐★

Sizzling hot chemistry and very, very explicit scenes make this more erotica than romance – though there is romance too.

Dr. Terri Anderson is an amazing doctor but has had a couple of setbacks in her relationships. Two divorces to be exact. The second marriage was to a resident in the hospital which ended up in a triangular drama of rather epic proportions. After that fiasco, Terri has sworn off ever getting involved with a resident.

Elizabeth Samuels (Sam) is a resident in Terri’s hospital. At thirty-one, she is older than a typical resident, but has her reasons for getting in late. Sam has had a crush on Terri from the start and when a colleague tries to set them up, Sam is all for it, except that she runs into Terri’s hard line about steering clear of residents despite scorching chemistry between them.

Terri is quite interesting as a character. Sam – we never really got Sam or even really got to know her. The attraction and chemistry between the two is crazy and once the sex starts, it eclipses everything else. The sex is in the BDSM world, but it is not intense. So it is palatable BDSM.

The forty-one million mentioned is the blurb is the defining touchstone for Sam’s characterisation, motivations and background. Maybe a little more development of their respective backgrounds and personality development would’ve helped in knowing the ladies better.

The writing is solid, but somehow we didn’t feel too invested in the relationship despite actively liking Terri. Nevertheless, we’d definitely recommend this as NSFW romantic erotica.

This is the third part of a series which has recurring characters, but each book can definitely be read standalone.  

⭐⭐⭐★

Girl Talk by Cassidy Storm

⭐⭐⭐☆★

This book rather made us think of the movie Her where the MC falls in love with an AI non-corporeal personality (voiced brilliantly by Scarlett Johansson).

Autumn gets a new cell phone number and receives a call from a stranger whose number is displayed as 'Unknown Caller' whose first sentence is boldly sexual. Autumn thinks it's a wrong number but somehow engages in a very brief exchange with attractive female voice at the other end before rushing out for a blind date. The Unknown Caller just happens to call when Autumn is desperately hoping for an out from her interminably boring companion and thus starts an engagement between two strangers. 

Autumn is actively looking for 'love' and going on dates with guys as often as she can but parallely a new, albeit weird connection is building between her and the Unknown Caller, Jessica. They are conversing, sharing themselves (and drinking the same flavoured vodka while talking), building an unmistakable bond, flirting and getting into decidedly raunchy zones.

The whole relationship is rather fantastical but so very hot and surprisingly so very sweet. There is genuine interest from both the ladies about the other and the whole birthday scene is straight out of OTT romantic movies. 

And the heat! This is romantic erotica (though at the start it seemed erotic romance – either ways, it is still firmly in the erotica zone. Romantic erotica is when most of the book is erotica but the erotica is driven by romance. Jump Then Fall, Tease Me and Begin Again by Sarah Sanders and Slow Burn in Tuscany by Giselle Fox are excellent examples of romantic erotica. On the other hand erotic romances are where (again) most of the book is erotica but the romance is driven by erotica. The X Ingredient by Roslyn Sinclair, Never Knew Until You by L. E. Royal and At Her Feet and The Fling by Rebekah Weatherspoon are good examples of an erotic romance.) Mostly, in both forms, there is a story but it is rather thin. Usually romantic erotica also has truckloads of sweetness and these are mostly angst-free/low angst books in which relationships develop depth and breadth pretty fast.).

What distinguishes this one from many others is that while there is a lot (in all caps, bold and large font) of sex and a lot of orgasms, Autumn and Jessica actually do it in person, physically with each other only once. Yeah, that’s right – the two are physically together just once. The rest of the time they are getting off to each other’s voice or words and are not even in each other's sight line.a

Since the book is narrated from Autumn’s PoV, we know she gets off to thoughts about Jessica (even when she thought she was straight and plenty often as the relationship grows). We never imagined that a whole book essentially about masturbation could read this good or be this engaging – just shows that even in such a scenario, enough emotion can be added to make it awesome. You just know that the two women are together in every steamy scene and in every sensual thought and the whole book just reads effing hot. 

The conversations – flirty, fun, sex talk, truth or dare – all of them build the relationship beautifully. That the ladies are just voices to each other and only really meet right at the end doesn’t register or in any way reduce the depth of their relationship. We also kind of love that Autumn is highly, highly sexed. 

This one is definitely NSFW (or anywhere in public) and definitely recommended.

⭐⭐⭐☆★

Sparks Fly by Sarah Sanders

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Take every love-at-first-sight movie; add to that every romantic movie of falling head-over-heels in love with someone in a fast forward motion – with all the stomach tingly excitement of new love and new discoveries – and you have this gem of a book. Think Before Sunrise.

Mira is a tourist and Sara is a guide in Paris. The story is narrated as short vignettes, and with each scene, we see the attraction between the women growing into appreciation and more. We enjoyed the use of absurd humour during two rather steamy scenes. In fact, we thoroughly enjoyed the steaminess factor in this one and also the hint of a domme-sub kind of vibe creeping in towards the end. We adored the two MCs and their relationship.

We absolutely loved this novella and strongly recommend it.     

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐