Book Binge

I learned something new this week. I did not know how many genres of Romance there are. I knew about Erotica, Larissa Lyons kindly informed me there is Erotic Romance, or "Romantica", I stumbled across Highland Romance, Medival, Regency, Historical, Paranormal, Contemporary, Western, I saw one about a Pirate but I don't know what that would be called - Swashbuckler Romance? I've also run across some m/m and menage.

I've been so involved reading all these Highlander Romances that I'm very behind writing about them! I tore through Julie Garwood's Highland stories - I read one of her Regency (?) romances, Lion's Lady, but didn't care for it too much. I also read one of her contemporaries, Shadow Dance, which was pretty good, although I think there were several books in the series before it. I've also just discovered Kinley MacGregor (Sherrilyn Kenyon). I've read books two and three of her Highlander books and love them! Not a big surprise as I do love me some Dark Hunters!

I also tried to read The Virgin's Secret by Victoria Alexander but couldn't finish it. I've finally given up and will try again later. I'm surprised, because I LOVED What A Lady Wants. I'm going to do a post about it - I spent a good portion of the book laughing out loud.

I'm also looking for recommendations for a good Book Swap. I've found one or two online but don't know if it's more of a hassle than it's worth, or if they're reputable. All I know is I'm gonna have to get another job to keep myself in books!

Flabbergasted!

My husband told me he was having trouble putting comments on my last post (of course he'd comment on the threesome post!). I didn't think anything of it, but I received this e-mail today:

Hi Patti!I attempted to post the following in comments at your blog, but I don't have an online identity that it seemed to like. I tried a couple then decided to simply e-mail you directly.First off, thanks for giving Ensnared a try. I enjoyed reading your review and think based on what you said that you'll enjoy Deceived by Desire if you decide to give it a chance.It's a novel-length story focused on the brother Nash, more than twice as long as Ensnared. My style grew quite a bit as a writer between these two books and I had a new editor who taught me a ton. If memory serves (which it should, I probably read each scene twelve-plus times while writing it!) I don't think there's any finger-fixation issues. ;) If there are, I owe you an apology!And all of the love and sex scenes are focused solely between the two leads (i.e., no threesomes this time). Let me know what you think if you give it a read, and thanks again for the great write up. I do try to learn and improve based on reader feedback! :-) Larissa

Wow, thank you Ms. Lyons! I'm definitely going to give Deceived by Desire a try!!

Ensnared by Innocence by Larissa Lyons

I'm not familiar enough with the Romance genre to recognize the authors yet, but I knew I had seen this authors name before so I said "what the heck" and went for it. Oh my goodness. Is this considered Erotica? I think it is. When I picked it up, I thought it was Larissa Ione, who writes the Demonica series that I want to start reading. Wrong!

It was a very short book (or maybe I read it too fast, hehe) but by Chapter 3 I needed a shower 'cause I felt dirty. Whew! The premise of the story was good...Lady Francine, a young lady living with her aunt and uncle, is trying to escape the awful marriage they have planned for her. In order to do that she decides to pick someone suitable and pay him to be engaged to her until the end of the season , then break off the engagement. At that point, she won't have to marry the man her aunt picked. The gentleman Francine picks, Lord Blakely, is quite a scoundrel but titled, making him a suitable choice for her plan. Except, once her plan is in motion she is very attracted to him and wants him to bed her.

Lord Blakely is at first shocked, then intrigued by Francine's suggestion, and agrees to go along with it. BUT, Blakely has a secret...he's a werelion, and it's almost time for his Change. He goes along with Francine's fake relationship, and teaches her everything she could ever want to know about sex. He realizes he's falling in love with her, which is bad. It's bad because he once accidentally killed a woman during his Change. Apparently at that time the lion is in constant sexual need and very aggressive about it. The young lady in question was killed when Blakely and his brother fought over her.

So, as the time for his Change comes, Blakely suddenly distances himself from Francine. She is hurt and angry and goes to his home to find out why he's shunning her. She is greeted at the door by Blakely's brother, who won't let her in. She can hear Blakely shouting her name and lots of bumping and thumping noises. She insists on going to him to see what is the matter, sure that she can help. She finds him tied to the bed, in the throes of the Change. He had insisted his brother tie him up to keep Felicia safe.

Well, one thing leads to another and they end up having hot sex. But then it gets a bit weird when Blakely's brother gets involved. Hey, I don't have anything against a threesome (that's what she said!), but with your brother? Uh-uh. No way. Ick. And, throughout the story Blakely had a strange habit of smelling his fingers. During foreplay. And making Francine smell his fingers. Also his brother. Very weird. Then, they all fall asleep and when she wakes up the brother is gone and she and Blakely talk about what happened. She loves him and loves her and is delighted she can handle his brother and his Lion half.

I'm not sure how I feel about this book. If it wasn't for the sibling threesome and the finger fixation, I'd say it was great. But for some reason I just can't get past those two issues. I'd love to hear someone else's thoughts. I'll probably try one more of her books before I decide whether or not to read more of her stuff.