Review – Friendly Fire by Megan Hart

Friendly Fire is a novella that digs deep into the question of how death can inspire loyalty, even for the most hated of individuals and what people are willing to sacrifice to that end.

When DEA Agent Kendall Frasier is sent to be mentally assessed by the government on a tropical island she looks at it as an opportunity to take in some sun and sand on someone else's dime. However, when Zane Vincent, the man who shot and killed her partner is also there for a similar reason, she begins to think that maybe she should have looked before she leaped. Even worse is the guilt she's bombarded with because of her attraction for her fellow agent. Megan Hart once again shoots (I know…the pun, that's how I roll) and hits her mark with this novella.

Megan Hart's writing is like a palette cleanser for me.

It wipes away all of the fireworks that I can get caught up in when I'm on a book binge, and it distills a story down to brass tacks; a man and a woman who fall in love and have to deal with the emotional ramifications that come with it. No vampires, no shifters/weres are harmed in the making of her stories; instead I always get really good plot, well thought out characters and romantic conflict I can don't have to suspend reality to believe in (not that I don't mind doing that, mind you).
For Kendall, Zane is off limits for one reason: he killed her partner. Denial is a river in Egypt for this heroine. Lest we forget that she hated the bastard…we have Zane to bring it to the forefront.

"You must miss him."
That statement made a short, sharp laugh burst from her throat.  "Dan?  He was a mean-spirited son of a bitch who made my life miserable.  He was a misogynistic, chauvinistic pig who thought women could never do half the job men could.  I spent all my time with him defending myself against his digs, trying to convince him I was as competent as he was.  That I could do the job.  Working with him was its own special level of Hell.  He was awful."

I could find several comedic ways in movie form in which this could play out, but I prefer how Hart dives into the issue of self loathing, loyalty and how we often are willing to forgive bad behavior when someone dies tragically. As a device of romantic conflict it works well. Because the story is short the issue needs to be dealt with in a relatively quick manner, but without seeming contrived and eyerollingly obvious. Both of which are avoided.

I wish this novella had been a bit longer if only to see what happened to the characters after they left the island…but then again, I feel that way about all of Megan Hart's stories, and good reads, every last one.

Review – Naughty Bits 3 by Multiple Authors

I have never read an anthology where every story left me wanting for more. EVER.

Until this week.

This week I started and finished Naughty Bits 3 and I loved every moment. I traversed the period pieces and was sucked in by the contemporary counterparts. There was a whorehouse and a chef, a tale of want and a pirate's tale, a closed movie set and a locked library door, a mirror revealing its secrets and a wife reasoning out her future and finally a convenient feminist arrangement (take that trite piece of Jezebel tat).

Even though this was comprised of novellas you could tell that if there were a larger story to be told it would be worth rereading the small portion included in the anthology just to get to it. Each story was the perfect catapult to introduce the reader to each author and showed off all of their best writing assets. I met new to me authors Letty James, Eva Cassel (she doesn't have an author website???), Alison Richardson, and others, and visited with an old friend in Megan Hart. By the time I was done, I had a new list of authors and a continued respect for Spice Books.

Even though the copyright dates on the stories were older, the anthology was very well put together. The characters were diverse and even in the case of the historical piece where you could see similarities there were vast differences. Appropriately enough, this Naughty Bits will be out on the day after Valentine's Day. Give your naughty bit a treat and pick up a copy.

It’s not always about the sex

Yes, I do read erotica...problem?

I typically don't get offended when someone raises and eyebrow at what I'm reading. This begs the question, then why am I blogging about it? And the short answer is because I'm going to put out there for anyone who cares to know that it's not always about the sex.

I'm used to people finding problems with the cover (too much nudity), the subject matter (too much sex) or the author (who's that, what literary prize have they won?). I've built up a callous to the remarks that I get and I even have a few zingers that I will happily trade for those who overstep the boundaries in providing an opinion on what I'm reading. The easy answer is that I like a happy ending, but a better answer comes from Alison's Wonderland:

        "…we all love a happy ending (traditional or otherwise), especially when the characters turn out to be kinky."

And now I take off on a tangent.

I love it when the web universe coincides with what I'm blogging on. As I was writing this I ran across the recent SmartBitches post on Porn vs. Romance and I realized that in some cases when people in my life voice their concerns with what I read, I feel the need to explain to deaf ears why romance or erotica is not always about the sex. That's not to say I don't enjoy reading the sex scenes, because I do, but I also enjoy the interaction between the characters and the plot. Any of the authors in my must read pile: Shelley Laurenston/G.A. Aiken, Larissa Ione, Megan Hart, Lauren Dane, Jaci Burton. Lora Leigh, Lisa Lawrence, and Zane, all provide this. They build the relationship between their characters and create a universe for them to play in that offers a slice of life that I'm looking for at that time. I've even witnessed cases where the SEX itself is its own character, with idiosyncrasies of its own that must be navigated just as carefully as matters of the heart. 

And now to reign it in.

 

People read what they do because they like it. The reasons behind it don't matter. I'm done with explaining myself, but I'm pretty sure I'll never be done with people giving me the side eye. For that I'll take the more childish route and hope that their face doesn't stick that way.

BV