I’ve learned a few new things in the last year. To break some rules.

One of them being “You should pick a genre and stick with it.” I always thought this one was right, that the poor dear reader would get confused.

Not a bit of it. When I started writing paranormal romance, I used a pseudonym for the historical romance and had two websites, one for each genre. Angie James, then at Samhain, wondered why I’d changed the name, since I’d worked hard to establish a “Lynne Connolly” brand. Thanks, Angie, she was perfectly right. I dropped the pseudonym and then redesigned my website, putting all the genres in one place. People like a change of reading matter. I was still careful to mark the books that were erotic, because not all readers want to go there, but it worked. People liked the simpler website and the way they could get all my books in the same place.

So I was known in both the paranormal romance genre and the historical romance genre.

I’m about to add another. Contemporary romance. And guess what – I’m doing it as Lynne Connolly.

Recently I’ve been working with some ladies at Ellora’s Cave, namely Ciana Stone, Samantha Kane, Desiree Holt, Mari Carr, Mari Freeman and Dalton Diaz. It’s been sheer pleasure, an absolute joy. Some of us met at last year’s Romantic Times Convention and we got on like a house on fire. So when Ciana contacted us with her idea, we were ready to go with it.

Cougars. Oh yeah. Older women, younger men. I’ve never done anything like it before but the concept has interested me for a while. When I write my paranormals, I’m working with beings that can be centuries old, but that’s different. Different rules apply, different experiences. This was completely new to me. How do you put an alpha male with a confident older woman, who might have more experience than he does? What an interesting situation!

We started with the same concept and then did our own thing. Six women meet at a romance convention and realise they are all at a crossroads in their lives. One of their number, Monica, challenges them all to find themselves a younger man, get a bit of experience. They come from all walks of life. After they get home they’re joined by another character, Edie. I got to do Edie.

I loved doing this, and the words flew off the page. I’m really delighted that Ellora’s Cave decided they wanted it. Our stories are very different, but working with these ladies was a sheer delight.

So was the new genre. Apart from one failed attempt at a Harlequin Modern romance, I hadn’t done a straight contemporary before. I used to worry that there wasn’t enough going on, that I’d have to introduce another element, like the paranormal, to make it work. You know what? I didn’t. Edie and John handled it all on their own. I had to cut a character out of the story, to make room for their interactions.

So what do you think? Should an author try something new, or should she stick to what she knows? And how about pseudonyms for different genres?

I dunno. I’m just doing what feels right these days.

Check out the Tempt the Cougar blog here: http://temptthecougar.blogspot.com/

And for my contribution, “Beauty of Sunset,” here’s a sneak peek for you: http://lynneconnolly.com/BeautyofSunset

Shannon C.’s review of Retreat by Mari Carr
Erotic romantic suspense eBook released by Ellora’s Cave 27 Nov 08

With smaller turnaround times between proposals and release dates, it’s possible for an e-published author to get a very good idea of what readers are buying and write books specifically to that market, whether that’s a market they’re any good at writing or have much interest in. It’s a logical thing to do, and if I were a published author, I’d definitely want to write books I knew would sell.  But the knowledge that a book will sell doesn’t guarantee the book will be good, and even if all the elements are there to be a bestseller, the book still has to engage the reader and bring something new to the table, which is not what happened with Mari Carr’s latest.

It feels like the kind of story that was written because both menage and BDSM stories are selling well at the moment. (I don’t know whether this is true, and I wouldn’t dare to presume to speak for the author.) Unfortunately, because this story does feel so much like something that was written for the guaranteed sale, it suffers. Devon has already reviewed this book, and if you are a fan of the author, you might want to read her thoughts instead of mine. Because this book, quite frankly, sucked.

The biggest problem I had with this book was that it should have been a lot darker, and it should have been a lot less superficial. The author thankfully doesn’t go into a lot of detail about the BDSM training that our protagonists, Jon and Night, go through, and she doesn’t use the cult to titillate. But she doesn’t really explain why it was traumatic beyond a superficial explanation. I really wanted to understand exactly why it was that these men in particular felt that they couldn’t be fulfilled sexually unless they shared women, other than that that is an erotic romance trope.

The BDSM aspects that were present weren’t very heavy. They could have been left out entirely, and it wouldn’t have made any difference to the plot. Which is a shame, because I would have respected the author more if she’d pushed the envelope and actually written, y’know, a BDSM story, full-bore, with all the props and bells and whistles. Instead, she writes enough for it to be considered a little kinky, and even during the scene where the boys try to scare the heroine, Carly, away from getting involved with the federal agency’s attempts to infiltrate said cult by showing her what “hardcore BDSM” is really like, all they really do is manhandle her a little roughly and make her call them master. I at least wanted to see more definite bondage, maybe some whips and chains. Alas, no. I mean, at least if they’d gone for more of the BDSM thing, I’d have believed the heroine really was a submissive at heart. Instead, the men back off and decide they can’t use Carly in that way. So, yeah, how exactly is that going to help when she infiltrates the cult?

The plot itself, aside from the BDSM cult aspects, was not only boring but seriously paint-by-numbers. Every plot development might as well have been advertised in blinking neon lights. At one point, I was sending incredulous emails, to a very patient friend of mine, in which I predicted every exciting twist. I was never, ever wrong.

Plus, what’s not boring and paint-by-numbers is patently ridiculous. A federal agency doesn’t have enough manpower to bring down a cult without the help of the sons of its leaders? You have got to be kidding me. They don’t have enough trained professional female agents and have to resort to sekretly submissive school secretaries to infiltrate the cult when it starts up again? Please. Tell me another one. Furthermore, lots of nameless victims of domestic violence being willing to put their lives in the hands of an obvious psychopath like Cassandra and overlooking the fact that she practically has “I am fucking crazy!” tattooed on her forehead? My credulity is strained to the point of pain here.

As for the characters, well, we have Carly, who is a school secretary and sekret submissive. If a woman like her truly exists outside of Romancelandia, I think she should be taken to someone’s lab for reprogramming. Carly is wholesome, despite her sekret submissiveness, and yet, she describes herself as not being like other girls. I’m not sure what that means in this context, exactly, but considering that the other female characters in this book are a psychopathic nutjob trying to pass her evil organization off as a shelter for victims of domestic abuse and the nameless women who are stupid enough to fall for it, I can believe that. Given the other women we see, Carly really is a beacon of intelligence and bravery… except, you know, when she’s TSTL, which happens a lot. Oh, and Carly talks like a woman about four times her age. (I don’t know when I’ve ever heard a woman under 50 actually refer to a group of men as “fellas”. And Carly does. A lot. So much so that it got to be somewhat distracting, because every time she did, I kept thinking, ‘Nobody talks like that!’)

Carly is well-nuanced in comparison to Jon and Night, though. Jon and Night both have potential for being unique characters, but they don’t quite reach it. The only things that differentiated the two of them were their hair color and the different ways in which they expressed the terrible emo darkness in their soul. In fact, they both express the fact that each has half of the other’s soul. WTF does that even mean? To me, it reads like the kind of shortcut where the author doesn’t need to make her characters actual, you know, individual people, so in the end I get the impression that Carly has ended up with two manbots instead of two men. Here again, I would have liked a bit of audacity.  These boys are really, really good friends, but they are as close as brothers. If the author had made them actual brothers, I would have rolled my eyes, but she doesn’t. If she’d made them hot for each other, I’d have liked them a little more, but she doesn’t.  So, again, she treads the safe middle ground of not offending anyone’s sensibilities.  And because I didn’t like any of these people, I felt distanced from them during the sex scenes, and was mostly bored.

Also, the characters routinely refer to their relationship as a ménage. I know this is such a little thing to nitpick about, but I hate when people in contemporary erotic romance do that. I am not an expert on polyamory, but I have friends who are involved in multiple-partner relationships. None of them have ever referred to said relationship as a ménage. A threesome, yes. I’ve even heard triad. But ménage? No. Just. Fucking. No.

I know there are other Duckies on the site who love them some Mari Carr. But this book, with its overly silly plot, its underwhelming characters, and the paint-by-numbers feel has convinced me she is not for me. I can’t even recommend this book for fans of the author. It’s that awful.

Grade: F

Summary:

Jon Walker and Night Thomas lived their childhood in a cult. They embraced the lifestyle, and it was there that they were trained as BDSM Masters. Only when the cult was infiltrated by undercover agent Reilly did the boys learn of the cult’s seedy underside, and help to destroy it.

Nearly fifteen years later, Jon’s job as a high school teacher — and his lust for the school’s gorgeous secretary, Carly — bring him close to the normal life he’s always craved. Just when that life is within his grasp, Reilly returns. An incarnation of the cult has resurfaced with Jon’s evil mother at the helm, and Reilly wants Jon and Night to go undercover to stop Cassandra Walker once and for all.

Shocked by his mother’s return and his BDSM past come back to haunt him, Jon is terrified of Carly discovering his dark secrets. Including the darkest of all — his complex relationship with Night, and his unrelenting urge to share Carly with his best friend.

Read an excerpt.

Devon’s review of Retreat by Mari Carr
Erotic romantic suspense eBook released by Ellora’s Cave 26 Nov 08

I knew there was a possibility this one would be ridiculous (check out the summary to see why). A BDSM cult? What would that be all about? But yet I was strangely intrigued. What kind of an effect would being raised in a BDSM cult have on one’s psyche? Although I suspected that this was a rather exploitative plot device to raise the kink factor, I had to give it a go.

If you’re looking for a deep exploration of the cult mentality, and the effects of being raised in one, you’ve got the wrong book. What the cult was all about, what role BDSM actually had in the cult—we don’t really know. There was a religious aspect, but it wasn’t really explained. I felt that the BDSM factor was there to up the creepy atmosphere and explain the heroes’ (Jon and Night’s) sexual predilections. To the author’s credit, the BDSM/cult aspect was not treated exploitatively, but rather as the form of child abuse it was. Although there is a bit of light D/s, this is not a BDSM story. Jon and Night enjoy what they enjoy, but do not want to live that lifestyle.

Retreat was plagued by a number of ridiculous plot elements. Jon and Night spent their formative years in this corrupt cult, with no formal schooling. As teenagers they are recruited by a super-secret government agency to bring down the cult. They will not be punished for their activities if they then join the agency. ??? Is the government so hard up for qualified people? Then, later in the story, the government agent is determined to recruit Carly, Jon’s love interest, to go undercover at the compound, where nefarious activities may have resumed. This only thing more preposterous than this is the fact that Carly, an insecure school secretary, is totally ready to go. Oh yeah, sign me up too. Please.

I found some of the romance ridiculousness much easier to swallow, because Ms. Carr writes some very nice characters. The initial romance between Jon and Carly was nice — tentative, based in friendship. But Jon has the uncontrollable compulsion to share the ladies with best friend Night. The previously insecure and inexperienced Carly is more than willing to fall into bed with them both, and to fall in love with Night in about a minute, to boot. It’s a bit hard to swallow [Ed.: heh], but I enjoyed all three characters and their interactions. Too bad the suspense plot was absurd.

Sometimes, after reading too many erotic romances, I start to look at people differently. Does that lady in Target live in a happy ménage with two men? Does the guy in Stop & Shop have the need to share his women with a best friend or brother? It’s just so prevalent in Erotic Romanceland, and I don’t know any in real life. Maybe just me. Mari Carr has been read, enjoyed and reviewed at TGTBTU before. I suspect I would enjoy her straight contemporaries better, as I did like the characters and romance. The suspense plot was just so silly, though.

Grade: C+

The Summary:
Jon Walker and Night Thomas lived their childhood in a cult. They embraced the lifestyle, and it was there that they were trained as BDSM Masters. Only when the cult was infiltrated by undercover agent Reilly did the boys learn of the cult’s seedy underside, and help to destroy it.

Nearly fifteen years later, Jon’s job as a high school teacher — and his lust for the school’s gorgeous secretary, Carly — bring him close to the normal life he’s always craved. Just when that life is within his grasp, Reilly returns. An incarnation of the cult has resurfaced with Jon’s evil mother at the helm, and Reilly wants Jon and Night to go undercover to stop Cassandra Walker once and for all.

Shocked by his mother’s return and his BDSM past come back to haunt him, Jon is terrified of Carly discovering his dark secrets. Including the darkest of all — his complex relationship with Night, and his unrelenting urge to share Carly with his best friend.

Read an excerpt

LauraJ’s review of Tequila Truth by Mari Carr
Contemporary Erotic Romance Novella eBook released by Samhain 21 Oct 08

It has taken me a while to actually pick up and read a ménage story. I just didn’t think I would like them. But I’ve been trying to increase my range of reading likes and finally picked one up that was a short story and it was pretty good.  So when this book became available for review, I thought the blurb sounded pretty good and decided to read it.  After reading this book I have a new must read author to my ever growing list. A word of warning when you sit down to read this book you may want to keep a cool drink close by or sit in front of a fan. This book is very hot.

Best Friends Kylie, Colt and Heath have been living together since their freshman year of college. Colt and Heath have been best friends since childhood. Carrying on a tradition started in college, Kylie, Colt and Heath have a game they play to celebrate birthdays. The game they call Tequila Truth requires the celebrating person to ask a question then the others drink a shot of tequila and must answer the question truthfully.

After answering a question posed by Heath six months earlier, Kylie finds herself in a situation that Colt has to rescue her from. After talking with Heath, they decide they need to rescue Kylie from the downward spiral that she is taking as a result of the truths they revealed. In order to do that they offer Kylie a weekend of fulfilling her every fantasy, including having both of them take her at the same time. As the weekend progresses both Colt and Heath find they are falling for Kylie. They both want her forever and are ready to convince Kylie.

Two very different, but still very sexy heroes. Colt is an undercover cop. He’s a little more rough around the edges. Heath is an architect who is a guy you can go to when you need comfort. Where Heath is a “ask questions first, kick butt if necessary” kind of guy, Colt is more “kick butt so they can’t answer the questions.” Separately they are great heroes, but together they are a perfect hero. At one point Kylie refers to Colt as “her big brother and fiercest protector” and Heath as “her best friend and confidant” and this is so true of both guys throughout the entire story. Kylie really is one lucky heroine. She was soft but vulnerable at the same time and I thought she was one of the better heroines written this year in the books I’ve read.

I really didn’t know what to expect when I started reading this story, but whatever expectations I may have had Ms. Carr far exceeded them and has won over a new fan of her writing. She has written a very hot and steamy story, with fantastic characters and I will definitely be looking for more from her.

Grade: A

Summary:

One’s the loneliest number. Two’s company. Three’s a fantasy come true.

The rules of Tequila Truth are quite simple. Shots are poured, a question asked, and only absolute truth can be the answer. Kylie Halston has been playing the game with her roommates, Colt and Heath, since their freshmen year of college.

On his twenty-fifth birthday, Heath poses a question: “What is your ultimate sex fantasy?” While Colt and Heath’s fantasies are too hot for words, it’s Kylie’s sex dream that hits a little too close to home for all of them. Her wish? For a ménage a trois with two men, complete with bondage and a bit of spanking for good measure.

Colt and Heath are only too willing to make Kylie’s fantasies come true and they make a proposal—one no-holds-barred, sexed-up weekend where nothing is off the menu. The only question is, come Monday, will their platonic relationship survive the passion?

Warning, you will need to crank up the air conditioning before reading as this title contains all the following erotic goodies: explicit sex, ménage a trois (m,f,m), anal sex, spanking, bondage, and graphic language. 

Read an excerpt here.

Nikki’s Review of Erotic Research by Mari Carr
Contemporary erotic romance released by Samhain 18 Mar 08

This book is SO good! I was drawn by the warning (yes, I’m bad) but I’m so glad I read this story. This is not just a read-and-forget erotica title. This book has some depth as well as mucho heat.

Julia Martin has had a hard life. She lost both parents early on and is very afraid of loving, just to lose. She has basically been a recluse all her adult life, writing books and keeping to herself. Her best friend is her editor. He’s her secret fantasy, as well.

I love her character. She has the insecurity without seeming like she is wallowing in self pity. She is a successful author, so she has confidence in some areas. She just doesn’t carry that into her relationships.

Ross is terriffic. He’s known Julia for a very long time. He loves her because of who she is. He’s not just hot for her. He adores her. He’s not a soggy sap, though. He’s just right.

When the games begin, the story steams. There are various fantasies played out and they never feel shallow. Ross and Julia are immersed in the sensuality of their play. Ross is dominant and Julia enjoys being overwhelmed. This doesn’t have a D/s feel, though.  And the sex doesn’t completely take over the story. Ross and Julia’s characters are strong and the love rings true. Their games are just sex play and don’t spill over into their other interaction. He respects her and he is vulnerable to her.

I want everyone to read this story. Half of what I’d like to praise would be spoiler, so I’ll just hope I’ve won you over. The climax made me bawl and the end made me smile. I’ll definitely be looking for more from Mari Carr.

Grade: A

     It was just a little innocent research…

     Romance writer Julia Martin is fine with her life, just the way it is. Her simple apartment, successful career and Thursday-night pizza dates with her too-hot-for-words editor Ross are more than enough for her. At least, that’s what she thinks until her cat dies.

     Ross Philips has spent years lusting after his shy best friend, but fears his rather strong sexual desires will be too much for Julia. When she falls into a depression over the death of her cat and stops writing, Ross decides she needs a change.

     His suggestion? Try a new genre—erotica. And, of course, being such a good friend and editor, he even plans to help her do a little research.

     Read an excerpt.