Thursday, November 24, 2011

Requested Review: Double Strokes by Kat Black

Just what is a good girl supposed to do, faced with the wicked temptation of not one bad boy, but two?

No matter how hard good girl, Gemma Trent, tries to run from the mistakes of her past, she can't seem to escape the memories of two hard-bodied, hot-blooded rowers, and the shameful things she let them do to her one crazy night five years ago in the college boathouse. Perhaps only by facing up to those mistakes can she prove that she’s no longer that sort of girl, and finally set herself free.

As determined as Gemma seems to be to smother the truth of her passions, Nathan Hunter and Ben Pearce—having already had her slip through their callused fingertips once—are equally committed to fanning the embers and rekindling the fire they suspect still smoulders deep inside. Now that they have her within reach again, all they have to do is convince Gemma to put her own self-imposed prejudices aside, and remind her just how good it feels to share.


Kat Black - Double Strokes

Ebook: 32 pages
Erotic Contemporary Romance (ménage M/F/M)
Release date: 12 September 2011
Total-E-Bound Publishing
ISBN: 978-0-85715-699-0

Main characters: Nathan Hunter, Ben Pearce and Gema Trent

First line of book:“In one of the bustling spectators' enclosures set up along the Thames riverbank for the annual Henley Royal Regetta, Nathan Hunter milled with a group of  old university rowing club peers, reunited for final days of the world-famous competition." 

Five years ago Nathan Hunter and Ben Pearce were students and rowers for their university. Gemma Trent had made up a perfect third of their crew, she had called the strokes and kept Nate and Ben on course. They were good friends but after the crew of another rowing team walked in on their threesome experiment everything had changed. Gossip had spread like wildfire, Ben and Nate were considered heroes but Gemma was spurned and had to flee to Scotland to finish her degree. The three of them never felt that intense passion again with anyone else and now for the first time in years all three of them are together at the annual Henley Royal Regetta. Can Gemma be persuaded to give their threesome another try to rekindle their fire and finish what they started?

Before reading this story I had my doubts about Double Strokes because it is such a short story. I wondered if it was possible to create a believable erotic story with only 32 pages, but Kat Black did just that with Double Strokes. Kat Black’s brisk and fluent writing made sure I fell for this story hook, line and sinker.

I loved the dynamics between Gemma, Nate and Ben. Gemma came to the Regetta to prove she has moved on, that she has grown out of these feelings for Ben and Nate. She is beautiful, likeable and sensitive. Nate and Ben are like day and night, both are tall and athletic but the comparison ends there. Ben is blond, bright and fair. He is charming and easy with a playful sensuality. Nate is the complete opposite; he is dark, intense with a fiery passion and he is the brooding (caveman) type. Together they make sure Gemma experiences her sexual awakening and they give her what she has been missing in her life. The sex is explicit, smoking hot and intense and I loved how it also mirrors the personalities of Gemma, Nate and Ben.

Kat Black’s characters leap off the pages, especially her two men. I love the raw, sexual potency of the pair. Double Strokes worked for me because Gemma, Nate and Ben already have a common past. Before the grand finale Kat Black skillfully blends their past and the present together so I understood Gemma’s insecurity, her hesitation and cravings very well, but also Ben and Nate’s perspective is crystal clear.

Double Strokes is a fabulous, sensual ménage story, I could have read on for hours but I ran out of pages way too fast!

4 stars

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Requested Review: Primal Heat by Donna Grant

“Being an American in Britain isn’t easy. For Krista, it’s downright hard especially when she’s plagued by erotic dreams that increase as Halloween approaches. So when she’s given a dare by her co-workers to pluck a rose from the most haunted house in Cardiff, she agrees never thinking it would be more than a scare tactic.

As a Tracker, all Orrin wants to do is capture the Were’s before they feed off the people of Cardiff, but when he lands on Earth and discovers the woman he’s been sharing dreams with is there, he can’t help but find her. All he plans to do was talk, but the lust that flares between them leaves no room for talking.

But the Were’s have come for more than food. They’ve come for Krista, to claim her as the mate to their leader. To resist their seduction is futile. Unless a Tracker is involved.”


Donna Grant - Primal Heat
Ebook: 52 pages
Paranormal Romance

Re-issued novella

ISBN 13: 978-1906811211
Release Date: Oct 2011

Main characters: Krista Evans & Orrin Black

First line of book:
"“How could I be so stupid?” Krista Evans asked herself for the hundredth time since exiting."

My review:
Krista Evans just moved from the States to Cardiff, Great Britain. She has left her old life and foster family behind to move to an unknown city. She has no logical explanation for her move besides the overwhelming need to be in Cardiff and now she is having strange, erotic dreams of a man. She is young, practical and independent.

Orrin Black is a Tracker for his people, the Acanti. He comes from a different planet and roams across the universe in his quest to track and kill the enemy of the Acanti’s, the Weres, to protect the innocent. He is called to Earth by the woman of his dreams, his mate. It can be no coincidence that the Weres are also in Cardiff; they are after the woman of his dreams as well. He cannot let that happen. Orrin is an adventurer, loyal, protective and a real warrior.

Primal Heat is up and running from the start, Donna Grant captivated me with likeable characters but even more with her creation of a whole new world besides Earth and a different set of rules that comes with that world. Unfortunately there was not much room to explore this world any further since Primal Heat is only 52 pages long and focuses on Krista’s and Orrin’s adventure. For the story it was not necessary to provide more information but Donna Grant does such a good job in creating this new world that I soaked up every word and it whetted my appetite for more.

Primal Heat is fluent and fast-paced; it is a mix of paranormal and sci-fi with a good dose of hot smex. It is a quick but addictive read, as a reader you want to know more about the link between Orrin and Krista. Their attraction is strong and their love scenes are steamy and hot. Primal Heat has the perfect balance of suspense and romance, it played out perfectly and left me completely satisfied as a reader, it would be nice to read more Acanti stories in the future. Primal Heat is another, thrilling page-turner by Donna Grant and a real treat for her fans and every other romance reader out there.

Favorite quotes:

"“I take it she left before you got back.”
Orrin gave a jerk of his head. “These damn modern women. Had this been a hundred years earlier, she would have listened to me.”
“Maybe.”
“You aren’t making things better.”"

“You don’t understand what you do to me, Krista, but with you, I’m the man I’ve always wanted to be. With you, I’m the man I always should have been.”

4 stars