Contemporary

TRY ME, My Nights with SOLE REGRET (1/5)

Try Me (One Night with Sole Regret, #1) Who hasn’t dreamed of turning the head of a famous rock star?

That passion, that excitement of a sexy brush with fame probably started with Elvis and it’s more than an idle dream for some women.

And that’s what I love about Olivia Cunning’s novella series: One Night with Sole Regret–she gives us the fantasy from start to finish. Each night a separate member of the band finds a woman and the passion is explosive.

The first installment, TRY ME, follows the activity of Gabe “Force” Banner, the mohawked drummer and his encounter with accountant Melanie Anderson following a concert in Tulsa.

Melanie has tagged along with her friend Nikki, a girl after the attention of Sole Regret’s lead singer, Shade. Thing is, the only way Nikki and Mel can get backstage is to convince the roadies they are up for a wild night with Shade–together–and Mel is not down with it. She’s terrified of tattooed men and ends up insulting the copiously-inked, arrogant Shade right to his face, much to the amusement of Gabe.

Gabe, his own ink covered by cap and shirt, begins talking to Mel. He’s never known a woman to turn down Shade, and is drawn to her independence. Chatting casually, Mel inadvertently mistakes Gabe for another fan and is later appalled to learn that Gabe is not only the drummer, he’s also heavily tattooed… Of course by the time she learns all this, she’s hooked by his good looks and down-to-earth nature.

What cements it all? Gabe opens up about his closet-geek status and Mel is captivated. Gabe can’t understand why Mel being attracted to him for reasons other than his fame is so potent, but it really stirs him up.

I love the way they come together. He feels free to express himself in a way he never usually does, and Mel is just as open in return. They bond, and the following morning they both know more has happened than a one-night stand.

TO BE CLEAR– this is a STEAMER!! So super hot I thought my iPad might melt.

And what’s even better?

There are four more nights with Sole Regret! (So far…)

If you check TRY ME out, please let me know what you thought in the comments!

You can pick this title up on it’s own or as part of the ALPHA BAD BOYS box set I reviewed earlier. If you buy the box set you’ll get TEMPT ME, the second novella in this series–at a discount!

DRAGONFLY Magic

Leigh T Moore knows how to spin a yarn. I learned this when I read The Truth About Letting Go.

Now she’s launching a YA/New Adult contemporary mystery series–of which DRAGONFLY is the first novel-length installment.

Anna, a transplant to the Florida gulf coast, is beginning her senior year without her best friend, but she’s adjusting well. She just got hired at the local paper as an aide which will undoubtedly bolster her college applications. The gorgeous Julian is showing a romantic interest in her, and she makes friends with twin transfers, Lucy and Jack Kyser–whose father is a wealthy real estate tycoon.

Jack and Anna are drawn to each other–and this attraction is a problem for both Jack’s father and Julian. Jack can’t decide if he should pursue Anna, or not, and Julian is ever-present trying to scoop Anna up.

Tension builds when Lucy, distraught over the machinations of her father’s influence on her social life, ends up in the hospital after mixing pills and booze. And the trouble with alcohol doesn’t stop there.

Through it all, Anna strives to hold together her tenuous friendships and excel in her newspaper job. Her big assignment has her chasing down interviews with the key players who developed their small gulf town into a folk arts mecca, including Julian’s mother and Mr. Kyser, both of whom are reticent to participate, but when Anna uncovers the secret Mr. Kyser’s been hiding, it might just tear their community apart.

DRAGONFLY is a romance/mystery with some heat appropriate for older teens and those who like YA fiction. It’s a quick read with plenty of misdirection.

Looking forward to the release of the sequel, UNDERTOW, in July.

Cocktails and Dreams–two of my favorite things!

Cocktails & Dreams Reading in the summer isn’t easy.

Kids are home, but I’m still working.

And, I have writing to do.

And, the garden is sorely neglected.

You know, the usual excuses…

But I’ve made a commitment to myself to squeeze in some time for new books. I was glad to run across COCKTAILS AND DREAMS by Autumn Markus (@AutumnMarkus).

In this New Adult Contemporary Romance, Jena Baker and Nicolas Cooper–two who had admired each other in college but were unable to link up due to a sudden separation–meet again on New Year’s Eve seven years later. And the sex, though it’s not described, is EPIC. Except for one thing:  Nick was too drunk to remember who his Angel is.

Haunted by dreams of the escapade, he is stunned to learn Jena was his special someone. Meanwhile, Jena, stung by Nick’s poor memory is hesitant to enter an actual relationship with the object of her college crush.

What follows is an unsteady game of Misunderstanding as both Jena and Nick realize they are supremely attracted to each other, while having very little knowledge of the other. Their tentative dating results in a passion-fueled couplehood–complete with jealous bar fights, empty liquor bottles, disapproving parents, scheming friends, and lots and lots of hurt feelings. Pretty much dead-on for a realistic relationship, IMHO.

Told in alternating first-person, this tale gives the reader a window to both Jena and Nick’s insecurities and certainties–because when the dust settles they’re definitely *almost* sure they really might belong…together.

What I really enjoyed about this novel:  the passion between Jena and Nick, the love of their friends, and the steadfast belief that they didn’t know what the heck they were getting into.

For all that this is a contemporary romance the heat is tepid. Lots of discussion about sex had or to-be-had but no graphic smexy bits to make your hands steam up the reader screen. And, that’s okay too.

If you happen to pick this one up, let me know your take.

And ALWAYS recommend me a can’t-miss title.