Albright Sisters by Jess Michaels

Before I begin glorifying these books, let me just take a moment and draw attention to the incredibly hot covers. What a nice change from the usual “couple in a passionate embrace” thing historical romances have going on. You just know this book is going to be all kinds of dirty and deliciously immoral.

After being completely let down by The Assassins I wanted to read a book that delivered everything it promised. That’s how I stumbled upon Jess Michaels and the Albright Sisters. How refreshing it was to read a book in which the characters weren’t shying away from their sexuality! And what a novelty, at least for me, to find historical erotica. Usually the authors of historical romances have the habit of procrastinating and leaving the sexual act until the very last moment or making such an ordeal about it that when it finally happens you’re just glad it’s over. And let’s not forget about all the naive timid virgins out there who somehow manage to catch some infamous rake’s attention. Jess Michaels is completely different. As the description of the author says she likes to list through romances until she gets to “the good stuff”. That’s right. SHE IS ONE OF US.

Moving on to the books, I found the storylines very engaging, the characters were intriguing and very very bold in their desires. I was really curious how Michaels would manage to make the third sister, Beatrice, who was a character I strongly disliked, into someone who the audience roots for. And I was not disappointed. Somehow Beatrice ended up being my favourite heroine, her shrew bitchy self finally explained. I was so glad to find out that she wasn’t just a silly lil bimbo and that she had reasons for behaving so horribly in the first two books.

Another point in favour of the books was that the sex wasn’t just of the missionary vanilla variety we usually encounter in the historical genre. As any true fan of good erotica, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that each character had their own little dirty secret, be it toys, being watched or being dominated.
Michaels seems to find the balance between sex scenes and storyline – something a lot of other erotica authors seem to keep getting wrong. In my opinion, there was enough story in the books to compensate for the extensive sexual content. In fact, I think the regular sex scenes made the characters and their relationships more realistic and genuine.
I have devoured three of her books in as many days and I will continue to read anything of hers I can get my eager hands on. However, I shall warn you now – reading these books will result in regular cold showers and often change of your panties.

Have fun!

Yours truly, Krissy

Motorcycle Man (Dream man #4) by Kristen Ashley

Finally going through all those silly books has payed back! It was about time I found a book I enjoyed. The hero, Tack, was hot, steamy, intense and dangerous. A dream man indeed. Excuse me while I go splash cold water on my face.

After I completely trashed the first book of the series (see Mystery Man aka Creepy Stalker Gets the Girl), I feel like I need to give the author some credit. Before I begin giving praise, however, I want to make it clear that I didn’t read the other books from the series because I didn’t think I could handle all the emotional romantic cr*p that Mitch Lawson was surely going to dish out. So I skipped to the scary biker dude who was the only character I remotely liked in Mystery Man. And my, oh my, can I just say in the words of Kristen Ashley:

Ladies, we’ve hit the hot guy motherlode.

The author did a much better job with this book – the writing was better, it wasn’t primarily dialogues and there was more thinking going on in Tyra’s head than there ever was in Gwen’s. Even the names were better this time around. What I didn’t enjoy was the little bits from Gwen’s pov. That woman quite simply pisses me off as no other character has ever had before. There she is in the hospital trying to calm down Tack, be there for him and she’s thinking about outfits. Her ability to think about clothes in every situation was a big part of why I didn’t like her. Generally, women who have only clothes, shoes and meaningless things like that in their head tend to be annoying. I mean, how shallow and empty-headed must one be that their first reaction to a very serious and dire situation is this

Moving on to Tyra, I definitely enjoyed her character. Her little speeches about embracing her inner slut cracked me up every time. She was funny, witty and had a backbone. She didn’t take anyone’s sh*t and she stood her ground – an admirable feat when your opponent is a scary biker dude who breathes fire when angry. Was he domineering and bossy? Yes. Did he get away with it? Sure. Did she do as she was told? On few occasions. But somehow Tack could pull it off. I mean who wouldn’t expect the president of a motorcycle club to be a demanding badass? She didn’t cower from him though, she said it as it was and she had the balls to leave him when she didn’t like the way he was treating her. Well, she tried to leave him anyway. Tyra definitely had strong moments throughout the book – especially when she went all batshit crazy on the tosser who dared to beat up Tabby! Or when she tackled Naomi to the ground. Man, I hated that woman, I was so happy when Tyra finally showed her who’s the boss. Take that, bitch!

A big minus in this book was the drama between the couple. It bothered me that every time something came up she tried to end their relationship. When you have issues with your man, you discuss them. You do not pack your bags and leave with a scandal.
On the other hand, there wasn’t as much drama with kidnappings etc as there was in the first book. Sh*t still happened but they weren’t such a big part of the book.
And can I just mention that the sex scenes were MUCH better in this book? I liked the dirty talk, I liked that she wasn’t being romantic saying “Make love to me, Kane!”. Instead she was demanding “F*ck me” or “Time to get down to business”. There were some really hot steamy scenes in there…

Oh, and Tack was truly the dream man. He is a dangerous, hot, angry, covered-in-tats biker who somehow is sweeter and nicer than any man I’ve known.
All in all, the book was worth reading and I’m glad I didn’t judge it based on the first book in the series. I am eager to read the story of Tabby and Shy – hopefully it will be even better!

Here is my favourite quote from the book, words that have stayed with me because of how true they are.

“Truth, honesty, perseverance, strength, love of all kinds and forgiveness are all beautiful, Tack. The most beautiful stories ever told are the most difficult to take.”  Tyra to Tack

Reviewed by Krissy