Soulmate for Sin by Izzy Van Swelm

 The effects of an attack on SIN, a twenty-nine year old University lecturer, reach out further into his future than SIN could ever imagine.

In a story, which seems doomed to start with an end, SIN learns about the forever kind of love, and how family is not just biological.

‘Soul-Mate for SIN’ shows how twists of fate can take a loving, but ordinary family, from a small market town in England, and turn them into something extraordinary.

This is my first book by this author, and over all I found it a pleasant read just not my type of book. Too many minor characters and minor stories going on, not enough focus on the main topic to keep me focused. We have Charlie, starting a new job because he got fired from his last for being gay. We have Sam (Sin), who the book revolves around, was gay bashed by his brother and his brother’s gang. Waiting to go to trail and in the mean time trying to stay out there way so they don’t finish the job, and Gabe, someone from the future, his story is explained.  I just couldn’t get a connection between any of these characters, where I got the premise of the story, and felt the struggles that not only Sam had to go through, being attacked twice. The trail, the difficulty dealing with the reality that his brother did this to him, all would have made for an interesting story. And then Charlie as well, although we seemed to have had lost his story somewhere along the way? The whole futurist soul mate thing, just threw me.  

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Claiming Her Temporary Men (Grand Oak Springs #2) by Grace Ryles

 It started with an arrangement, temporary no strings attached sex.
On a journey to find herself Emma Daniels never expected to fall into bed with two broody men for a little dominance play. Giving up her dreams of finding the one thing she has always wanted… a family, Emma decides to embark on a month long NSA sex with twins Ryder and Chase. Emma finds herself falling for the twin hotties and wanting more, but their scarred past hinders them from giving her what she wants.
Chase and Ryder Freeman have sworn off women, apart from for one singular exception, sex. Meeting Emma they never expected for her to stir those old emotions, the ones they kept buried deep inside. Determined not to give into those old feelings they propose a compromise, one month no strings attached.
Can these three finally overcome the hurt of their past or will they succumb to it?
Will Emma finally get what she always wanted by claiming her temporary men?

Ms. Ryles takes us back to Grand Oak Springs, Arizona in Claiming Her Temporary Men. This time around, brothers Ryder and Chase get a second chance at happiness when they enter into a one-month fling with a visitor to their small town, Emma Daniels. Recently divorced, Emma has no intention of entering into a relationship with another man, let alone two men. But that doesn’t mean she’s not open to a month of no-strings-attached ménage sex, especially when the brothers offer to teach her about domination and submission – a secret desire sparked by her reading of erotic novels.

I found Claiming Her Temporary Men to be more believable and, hence, more enjoyable than the first book in the series. Perhaps because none of the three involved were looking for love and were, in fact, opposed to it, there were no immediate declarations of love. Even though the characters began to admit to themselves that their feelings might be entering love territory after two-weeks, there were no outward declarations. Being as Emma had only planned to spend a month in Grand Oak Springs, the trio spent as much time together as possible and as they were together daily and spent that time getting to know one another in and out of bed, the progression of their feelings for one another felt right rather than rushed. With the way that events unfolded in the book, the timing of their declarations of love felt appropriate given the situation.

I saw a definite improvement in the author’s writing style from Second Chance at Love to this book and I did not notice nearly as many occurrences of a word being used incorrectly as I did in book one. Ms. Ryles also struck a much more enjoyable balance between the romance, freaking hot sex, and suspense elements this time around. I found myself more invested in Emma’s story than I was in Kylie’s (with far less eye-rolling occurring on my part). I also liked that when Emma informed Chase and Ryder that her knowledge of D/s was based strictly on her reading of erotic novels, they seemed to exercise more patience and provide guidance to her than I often see in similar novels. Claiming Her Temporary Men was an enjoyable read for me and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series, Finding Holland.

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If Only by Cherise Sinclair

After the last fiasco, Sally gives up. She’ll never find a Dom of her own. Instead the computer whizz is job hunting in between bending the law—just a bit—to unearth the bastards who’d enslaved her friends. The clueless cops and Feds obviously need help.

FBI special agents, Galen and Vance, have waited to play with Sally for a long time. When the mischievous submissive returns to the exclusive Shadowlands BDSM club after an ugly relationship, the experienced co-tops are pleased. Realizing she’s suppressing her emotions, the powerful Doms push her—only to find that her sassiness conceals a scarred and vulnerable heart.

Shaken by the unexpected emotional exposure, Sally flees the demanding Masters and the Shadowlands.

Both Galen and Vance have reasons not to seek a long-term submissive, but when a brutal attack by her ex-Dom sends Sally into their home, the two agents are driven to protect her. To help her. To take her under command. Falling in love isn’t in the plans.

But as the little imp brings light into their lives, they begin to want more…until they discover she’s hacked into an organization that delights in burning people alive.

**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS A SPOILER AT THE END!!**

Let me begin this review by saying how much I enjoyed Masters of the Shadowlands in the beginning of the series. I loved the strong, dominant males, the club and the interesting characters Ms. Sinclair created. Unfortunately, her writing has taken a wrong turn, in my opinion. In the search for more drama, she focused on The Harvest Association as an evil force that must be reckoned with in every book since Marcus met Gabi in Book #5, Make Me, Sir. We lost the emphasis on erotic romance centered on a kink club and instead have to spend three quarters of each book battling a white slavery organization, the dominants over powering worry toward his sub, and the stupidity of the subs under their care.

No – I did not like the book. First I’ll explain what I feel is desperately wrong with the book and then I’ll explain why I even gave it 3 stars. Ms. Sinclair has created a fabulous world at the Shadowlands. Once that happens, the world kind of belongs to the fans and when the author forgets that, things crumble and burn. Sally – who has been in every book as the bratty sub who tops from the bottom and can outwit every dom there is – is finally up for her HEA, right? Wrong. First off, her personality has taken a major downturn. She’s now been an abused woman. That angle isn’t bad, except…through the book we find out this isn’t a new thing – but she’s only showing the signs now? Ms. Sinclair tried to explain this part away by saying her backtalk was a way of keeping everyone at a distance. Literary license that didn’t quite carry in my opinion.

In book #5, Z sends Sally home to Iowa to spend time with her family to get her away from the white slavers. She’s thrilled! Excited! Can hardly wait to go home and see her family. THAT was in book #5. In this book, her father was abusive from the time her mother died when she as like 10 years old, he blamed her for the woman’s death. Her step-brother was also abusive toward her. There is NO happy family to go back to. That is a major plot point that destroyed the book for me. I know authors can forget certain characters characteristics, but she should have re-read her books before she decided to write If Only.

Another reason I disliked the book intensely is Ms. Sinclair’s heroine. She calls her heroines strong brats. I call them idiots. Strength is knowing who you are – not backtalk. Sally, in If Only, is in a partnership with two strong doms: Galen and Vance. They are FBI agents who have been after the Harvest Association (yep, there we go again) since before we met them in Book #5. They want to keep her safe. But one thing Ms. Sinclair seems to insist on is heroines who ignore everything around them – the facts, the truth, and their dominant’s guidance – to act out and do things their way because obviously they are the only one who really knows anything. And, of course, she has this sub who I liked in previous books but here I found exceptionally annoying, save the day. The sub. Not the two powerful doms who have been FBI agents for over a decade. No. The sub with no experience.

Plus, she is constantly calling them names in her head. Idiot, stupid…the list goes on. She has no real submission to or love for the two men except when in a sexual scene. Sally always thinks she knows better. And the author writes the plot to make her opinion ‘seem’ right, even when she’s bloody wrong.

So why a 3-star review? As much as I disliked the heroine and the plot, Ms. Sinclair always writes well. It’s also edited well. Plus, I adored Galen and Vance. I personally think they deserved better than Sally, but they did make the book for me. But mainly it is because she writes BDSM scenes really well. In this book, there is a fisting scene that’s so hot, you’re gonna squirm and want to be Sally while you read it. If Only includes threesomes all over the place with anal, vaginal, and oral sex, plus that fisting scene which if the rest of the book hadn’t been so off, would have garnered a 5 star rating just on its own.

***SPOILER WARNING***

One final thought – the ending was like having the rug pulled out from under me. This is a spoiler so don’t read on if you don’t want to know – Galen, Vance, and Sally get engaged. But come to find out, Sally has no intention of marrying either of them. She explains they’ll write up contracts so she’s safe, but she’s not going to marry either of them. As if to confuse us more, Gabi and Marcus announce their engagement and Gabi convinces Sally to have a double wedding. Does anyone else find this confusing? Sally isn’t getting married – she’s just going to go through a non-legal commitment ceremony with her doms. Gabi and Marcus on the other hand are actually getting married – or are they?

              

 

Golden Change by Lynn B. Davidson

 Kylie Duncan has had difficulty adjusting to living on a sexually permissive planet with her husband Aiden, but her hardest challenge is yet to come. Aiden found love in the most unexpected place when he broke his planet's traditions and married a woman from Earth.

When he informs her that he wants them to host a young man to live with them, for what he calls a “golden change,” she doesn’t hesitate. When she learns the young man will change physically, resulting from their sexual relationship with him she is shocked.

Jacob Hayden finds the couple intriguing and is surprised when he realizes that he is falling in love with Kylie and Aiden.

On this strange planet, will Kylie open herself to the possibility of loving more than one man, will Aiden allow his heart to be open to another person, and will Jacob find that the love he feels for them will overcome his societies prejudice?

Note: This book contains double vaginal penetration.

A Siren Erotic Romance

“You must accept my golden cum for the next nine months if you hope to finish your transformation.” Sounds like a cheesy pickup line from a bad porno, right? And it’s just one of the many reasons why I enjoy sci-fi erotica. What would get a man slapped or beat down in a contemporary romance just serves to set the stage for the extremely erotically charged story of human Kylie and her Zehavian husband Aiden as they host an internship for Jacob, a young Zehavian cadet, and assist him through his transition from the silver of his youth to the gold that marks a Zehavian male as a man.

And yes indeedy, Jacob accepts Aiden’s golden cum at least once daily – but more when circumstances allow. But don’t go thinking that Kylie is left out of the action. Oh no, not at all! Jacob might be getting it from Aiden daily, but it is Kylie who is the one able to accept Jacob’s silver cum – and accept it she does. As the internship lasts for a minimum of nine months, there is plenty of sex to go around – M/F, M/M, M/F/M, M/M/F, and even an F/F scene. Because the Zehavian people are not shy, exhibitionism abounds in the Golden Change and it is hot.

But amidst all the squirm inducing sex scenes, I was also treated to a wonderfully written romance as I got to not only see the bond between Aiden and Kylie, but also the relationship that develops between the three of them. On a world in which humans are often viewed as second-class citizens, Aiden’s marriage to Kylie is the exception to the rule. While there are Zehavian men involved with human women, the women are usually kept as mistresses. But Aiden’s actions and protectiveness show just how much he loves Kylie and insures that the decisions to be made that impact her are made with her input – such as accepting an intern and who to accept. It was also apparent as Jacob began to model Aiden’s behavior as Kylie became just as important to him as she was to Aiden. I believe what impressed me most was the way in which Jacob’s grandmother, Victoria, not only accepted Kylie but credited her for her grandson’s transition, explaining to Kylie that while yes it was Aiden’s golden cum that helped Jacob turn gold, it was Kylie’s care that helped Jacob achieve his beautiful sheen. Admittedly, from the outside the book’s description may sound a bit far-fetched, even for sci-fi erotica, but if you’re a fan of the genre or just enjoy reading erotica, I recommend it because Ms. Davidson has delivered a book that is heavy on the erotica and the romance. AND it’s the first book in the series, so there’s more to come … no pun intended!!!

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