Gwen’s review of Built (Anthology) by Amie Stuart, Jami Alden, and Bonnie Edwards
Contemporary erotic romances published 31 Jul 07 by Kensington Aphrodisia
This three story anthology has stories of normal people, in normal lives, falling in lust and love. It’s spicy, funny, and very hot.
Here are the book blurbs:
Kink by Amie Stuart (excerpt)
For D’Angelo Prentice, a gorgeous Houston air-conditioner repairman, the sizzling Texas heat is nothing compared to what that vixen Cherise introduces him to—a world of hot, uninhibited sex that comes in every style and flavor. A manicurist by day, Cherise’s nightly adventures on the wild side are at first a shock to the more conventional D’Angelo, but once he gets into the swing of things, he realizes that the extra spice makes his thing with Cherise extra nice.Down and Dirty by Jami Alden
No blurb or excerpt available from the author. So I’ll fill in the gap. It’s set in the Bay Area. The heroine is a buttoned-up venture capital exec named Taylor Flynn and the hero is Joe Tierney, her neighbor and a landscape contractor. She gets dumped by a man she thought perfect for herself, but who she had lost interest in long before. Now she’s left trying to figure out if her life plans are really what she needs. Or if a little “landscaping” is what she should have…Rock Solid by Bonnie Edwards (excerpt)
Florida carpenter Jake McKay can’t resist the honey voice insisting he travel cross country to renovate an historic Seattle estate. When he meets Lexa Creighton, it’s a lust at first touch, and skin-scorching pleasure all the way. But it’s going to take a little help from some amorous ghosts to keep this rock solid man where he belongs—in Lexa’s bed.
Kink explores multiple partner sex and there’s plenty of F/F/M boinking going on.   I didn’t buy into the emotional relationship between the hero/heroine. Though I did have a certain voyeuristic fun reading about their sexual relationship. The heroine hero, D’Angelo (rhymes with “tangelo”) gets seriously freaked out by his fuck-buddy’s  predilection for multiple simultaneous partners. The hero heroine, Cherise, is a repeat character from Amie’s other book, Hands On and she tries harder and harder to freak him out – for what reason you never do find out. This story ends oddly and I didn’t understand the heroine’s waffling toward the end – nor would I ever get an opportunity to understand her mindset since the story is told from the first person perspective of the hero (unusual enough in a romance, I suppose). Grade: C+
Down and Dirty explores more a conventional sexual relationship, but adds a class distinction complication. I hated the heroine, Taylor. I wanted to slap her a couple of times. HARD. Joe was way more man than she deserved. I may have hated her, but I liked the storytelling. LOVED the ending. Grade: B
Rock Solid has paranormal elements (ghosts and spirits) and lots of very yummy steaminess. It’s a cute story though was a bit confusing – lots of going back and forth to get out the house, only to return later. I loved the hero but the heroine was a bit of a non-entity. Grade: C+
This was an overall good anthology, just not great. It was fun reading, though I had a trouble remembering details after I put it down. As Sybil says, “Yummy, but I was hungry again in 30-minutes.”
Overall Grade: C+
Spicy, funny and very hot….thank you, thank you!
Having difficulty remembering the details may well have been my “girls of Perdition House” messing with you, Gwen.
LOL
Considering the whole series of Midnight Confessions stories set in the haunted bordello fell into my head almost completely formed…I think there’s definitely tons going on in that house!
So, the idea that Belle and the girls are messing with you is feasible. (at least to me)
Bonnie (still chuckling)
Bonnie – I want your hero, Jake, like a fat kid wants a Twinkie (to borrow Karen’s phrase). I don’t need him or the complcation, but boy I WANT him!
He’s got a brother, Gwen…Jared, who looks like a pirate and sails the Caribbean. But, alas, he’s living his HEA with his heroine, so you can’t have him, either.
They met last year in Slow Hand in the PURE SEX antho from last July.
I really liked writing Jared…
Bonnie
Is it bad that I like the fact that you hated my heroine? She was definitely a challenge, but I wanted her to come off as a complete pain in the ass who gets thrown for a loop by the type of guy she’s completely written off. She was fun to write 🙂
Dadgum, Bonnie! Just burst my bubble, why don’t you! 😉 Dang – another book for my TBR pile. Just what I need.
Jami – LOL You succeeded! I wanted to shake her ’til her teeth hurt!
Hey Jami! How yous?
ppssttt gwen I am pretty sure you have that book on your tbr pile.
Hey Sybil! I’m slowly recovering and forcing myself to get back to work. I’ll be back today to chat with Shannon McKenna – she’s one of my all time faves!
You know, this is my first experience over here.
EC Sheedy pointed out your review to me (thanks EC!).
I don’t read many blogs regularly. Does that make me weird? But, I like this one.
Jami, okay, so now I’m dying to read Down & Dirty…the minute my author copies (which are, apparently, languishing at the border) arrive, I’ll be cracking that puppy!
I live in hope that one day, I’ll get busted for importing, ya know, “undesirable material” or some such nonsense and I’ll get a ton of publicity.
Something like: “Suburban Mom busted for erotic imports!”
And if you and Amie have “hotted up the pages” then maybe it’ll happen.
Oops, better be careful what I wish for.
Enjoy Pure Sex, Gwen…I did! LOL
Bonnie
le sigh… you mean EVERYONE doesn’t come here?
no love man no love
it is ok bonnie, you are here now… that is all that really matters *G*