Lix 2: New York Underground by Emily Hayes

⭐⭐⭐

This is the second instalment of the story of How Lauren Became a Submissive. Considering that this and the previous book are mostly erotica, it is not exactly necessary to have read the first book to read this one.

Lauren, the gorgeous femme, and her girlfriend, Quinn, the butch stud owner of an erotic club for ladies in LA, Lix; decide to go on a holiday to New York. So they have sex. They research erotic clubs in NY. Have sex. Go to NY. Have sex. Go to a club, get a joint lap dance, have sex. Go to a party for ladies. Have exhibitionist sex. Go shopping for fetish clothes. Have sex. Go to an erotic club. Have a threesome. 

And just when it seemed like there would be nothing more to this book than sex, post the threesome, Lauren has conflicting emotions including sadness and the two have something of a fight. Then they go to a workshop for Kinky Lesbian Relationships and get educated on a concept called sub drop. 

Then, of course, they have some more sex before going back to LA.

Lauren is altogether too bouncy and excited about sex, Quinn, kink and being a sub. We understand that Hayes probably wrote Lauren's over excitement about being a sub to ensure that no one has any doubts about her willingness (eagerness, more like it) to be in this role. To drive home the point that Lauren is doing it because she wants to do it. But really, it smacked too false. Also, isn't Lauren in her thirties or something? (We know Quinn is almost fifty.) So all that bouncing and squealing?

Most dialogues are stilted. Some of the sex is hot. On the sex level, there is vanilla sex, dildo, exhibitionism, voyeurism, mild spanking and a threesome.

Quinn remains not particularly likeable despite Hayes' best efforts.

The most real and engaging moments in the book are when Lauren struggles to reconcile the fact that she is a strong, independent woman with the fact she is Quinn's willing sub. When Lauren worries about how this dynamic during sex will impact her personality. Lauren after the threesome and her feelings about Quinn at that point were what made this book a notch above just plain erotica and earned its stars.

In the hyper-local niche of lesbian erotica, this is one of the better ones.

⭐⭐⭐

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.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Vegas Savages by Jane Brooke

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

Adjectives slam around when we try to think about what to say about this book. The one that swims on to the top is -- raw. This book is raw. It has raw emotions, raw sexuality and sexual descriptions and a raw depth. It is also edgy, grimy, gritty and somewhat mind bending. Through it all runs a delicious vein of dry humour and uncompromising observations (good and bad; positive and negative) about everything from politics to environment and conservation.

PI / Bounty Hunter Jane is a Brit repartiate in North Vegas, a place of debauchary, deviance, dreams and deaths. Bold, brilliant, beautiful and badass, Jane has the sensibilities of a vigilante but manages to tread a very, very fine line between meting out justice in crude, painful ways and staying on the right side of law. An unapologetically sexual creature, she has no qualms about using all tools -- guns, martial arts or sex -- at her disposal to put away a bad 'un -- man or woman. 

Jane is described as a Mensa genius, stunning (an ex model), quirky, tall, queer twist savage, steel toed boot string blond, wealthy, linguist, violent, troubled, weapons and martial arts expert, a heart of gold, lives in her own retro/film noir world. She is a NOW generation kinda plugged in girl, seeing the world in a acid etched reality. 

This book takes us into Jane's world as she first handles a couple of jobs for the police, living and partaking enthusiastically of the den of sin that her world is. She is all guns and glam with a massive sexual drive. One of the beautiful girls who come to Vegas with stars in their eyes only to end up in a gutter of deadbeat degradation, reaches out to Jane about her missing thirteen year old daughter.

As Jane tracks the missing child, we are taken through all sorts of darkness and mayhem, depravity and justice.

This is a genre defying work. It cannot be slotted into a neat box. It is erotica. It is crime. It is action. It is stream of consciousness. It is also social and political commentary. It is all these things and yet cannot be contained in just one of these genres.

Written in first person, the style is entirely unique. Clipped phrases form short, staccato sentences that move incidents along at a rapid fire pace. Jane's thoughts move along a stream of consciousness going from thinking of a evil man to Taylor Swift and back seamlessly. The style is kind of mesmerising and addictive.

Brooke doesn't shy away from writing everything in explicit and excruciating detail -- whether it is sex (including a singularly detailed BDSM 'scene'); gut-wrenching and stomach-churning descriptions of what happened to a victim; heart wrenching aftermath of the aforementioned  knowledge on Jane via tortuous dreams; and sordidly graphic violence (which feels strangely satisfying given who is at the receiving end). 

This is not a book for the squeamish or faint hearted but if you do pick it up, it is quite an experience. Enthralling, even.

We certainly recommend this book. Tread the path not frequented and walk the wild side.

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆

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.     

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐      

Jump Then Fall by Sarah Sanders

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

An unabashed, unapologetic romance with lots and lots of sizzling, superhot sex. Yummy!

Ika and Ree work in a multinational organisation and meet in an office getaway. Neither knows who the other is but are drawn to each other.

We don’t want to write more about the storyline because it is so worth a read. The chemistry between the two MCs is outstanding. The author reveals the personalities of each of the two via dialogues instead of telling and describing them too much.

There are a large number of excellent sex scenes each one helping in developing the relationship. This one is all about relationship development and the beautiful handling of different personalities by partners in a relationship.

It is interesting to see how the author deals with age-gap, body image and difficulties in emotional intimacy. Without making it the focus of the romance swimming along breezily (with a lot of sexy times), the author brings up and deals with the more serious issues of a relationship with sensitivty, love and tenderness.

The book has our favourite tropes: insta-love and an aggressive, dominant, femme bottom.

Definitely recommended. 

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐