Not Another Blind Date by Leslie Kelly, Janelle Denison & Jo Leigh

A good selection of Valentine’s stories

4 stars

This is Blaze’s annual collection of stories for Valentine’s Day all focusing on blind dates and what they can lead to.

SKIN DEEP by Janelle Denison

At a fancy dress party, good girl Jayne decides to give herself one night of craziness with a hot, bad boy. Jayne’s never enjoyed sex so hot but it was a one-time thing. Or so she thinks. When Jayne gets set up on a blind date with Brian she realises the Cupid has other ideas.

I really enjoyed this story as it was sweet and cute with some good heat running through it. Definitely the best of the book.

HOLD ON by Leslie Kelly

Shy Sarah Holt is enamoured with sexy Doctor Steve Wilshire but he doesn’t know she exists. So when a twist of fate allows Sarah to step in as Steve’s blind date she jumps at the chance and has the best night of her life. But will it last?

This was a good story if a little far-fetched. I liked the romance but I was surprised Steve wasn’t a little more angry when it came out who Sarah actually was which made the conclusion a little unbelievable for me.

EX MARKS THE SPOT by Jo Leigh

Paige Callahan has just lost a big break for her job so it’s the icing on her crappy week when her ex-boyfriend sets her up for a blind date on Valentine’s Day. But things start to look up when she meets sexy, wealthy, Noah.

I could barely finish this story as it was ridiculous – what ex-boyfriend, described as careless and thoughtless, would set his ex up on a Valentine’s date and what girl would accept? It was also boring and the ending was forced and unbelievable.

Overall, there are two good stories in this anthology and one that didn’t do it for me at all. Despite the bad story I’m still going to go with 4 stars as even if you’re not a fan of Valentine’s Day this anthology is worth a read if you get the chance.

Manhunting

Enjoyable Valentine’s anthology

5 stars

This is the annual Blaze anthology for Valentine’s Day with three connecting stories of three friends who are determined not to spend another Valentine’s Day alone.

THE CHASE by Betina Krahn

Samantha Drexel has always loved Nick Stack’s music but when the pair finally meet, the sparks that are flying are more from anger than anything else. But those sparks soon turn into sparks of lust but will their one night together turn into forever?

This was a fun story with likeable characters that had great chemistry and a lot of spark.

THE TAKEDOWN by Joanne Rock

Tori Halsey has been in love with her brother’s best friend for most of her life. Now she’s all grown up, she decides that it’s about time she finds out whether they’ve got the kind of chemistry that can last a lifetime.

I do like a story where the couple have known each other forever and especially enjoyed this one as both Tori and Luke realised perhaps they didn’t know everything about each other. Good chemistry and a well-written story.

THE SATISFACTION by Lori Borrill

Sweet Kitty Colburn is determined not to be the only one without a date on Valentine’s Day. Unfortunately, the man she’s picked out is a little, well, boring. So, before she commits to a staid and dull existence, she plans to have some wild times with sexy chef, Josh Beeker.

This was my favourite story of the three as Josh discovers another side to his sweet and shy neighbour. I liked the development of the relationship and it was nicely sexy too.

It’s unusual for me to enjoy all the stories in an anthology but I really enjoyed all three of these. The Valentine’s content is limited so the stories can be enjoyed all year and if you’re looking for some light, fun and romantic stories to take your mind off things for a while then I would recommend this book to you. 5 stars.

Sex, Love and Valentines

Fun for a quick thrill

3 Stars

This is a collection of 20 erotic stories compiled for Valentine’s Day and each of the stories revolve around the day. This is an Xcite book so you get a range of authors, both male and female, giving you a whole different range of erotic tales including some girl on girl stuff and one gay story.

Firstly, I have to say that I wasn’t impressed with the cover. The girl licking the lollipop was just too pre-pubescent schoolboy fantasy for me to take it seriously and it certainly didn’t excite or titillate me as I’m assuming it was supposed to!

The book contains 20 stories most of which are about 10 pages in length which is perfect for a quick read when the mood strikes. Having said that, at times it was like you were just getting a taste of the story and then it would end just when the going got good.

I’ll admit that the stories (or at least most of them) were exciting in their own way, but for me, I prefer erotic stories with a little bit more fantasy and romance. Some of the stories in this collection were very real-life, realistic and felt more like seedy one night stands.

I’m going to give this collection 3 stars because although there were some really enjoyable and well-written stories (Dr. Charm, Shot to the Heart and Neighbours were my particular favourites), the good stories were outnumbered by the pointless, sordid and at times downright terrible stories in the bunch.

Still, for a quick thrill and for the price then you’re bound to find at least one story in this collection that tickles your fancy.

Her Sexy Valentine by Stephanie Bond

Fun and clever Valentine romance

4 stars

Carol Snow is dedicated to her job and would much rather get her heart rate up with a dirty book than with a messy, real-life romance.

But that doesn’t stop her form being tempted by her exasperating, charming and ruggedly sexy co-worker, Luke Chancellor. But when he asks for a real date, she runs like hell…

And finds herself reliving the exact same day complete with Luke and some sizzling hot sex.

Carol’s happy to take the perks of reliving the day but she soon realises she wants more than multiple one night stands. But how can she manage to stop reliving the day and wake up with Luke the next morning?

This is the sequel to Bond’s Seduction by the Book and her e-novella Too Hot To Print. I hadn’t read either of those books when I read this one and it made no difference so this book stands nicely alone.

I really enjoyed this book. It was fun, witty, sweet and sexy. You do have to suspend belief for a while because the plot mixes reality and fantasy but it’s still believable and really makes the story.

I liked both Carol and Luke and thought they had excellent chemistry together. Carol, especially, was a really sympathetic character and someone I could understand and cheer for.

There were only a couple of things that stopped this book from getting the whole 5 stars. Firstly, because the same scenes were played over and over, it was very odd to be reading the same paragraphs as you’d just read. Not that they weren’t slightly different each time but it was still strange! The other was that I really could have done with an epilogue to see the couple in the future especially because Carol was so reluctant to form a relationship.

This is still a very good, very well written and clever Blaze romance. 4 stars.

My Secret Admirer

Disappointing Valentine’s Anthology

2 stars

Dangerous Lover – Anne Stuart

When Emma O’Bannion decides to cheer up Luc, Dubois, her mysterious French neighbour, with a little Valentine’s Day surprise – she doesn’t realise that it will put her into such hot water that her heart may never beat normally again.

I’ll have to admit that I don’t think I’ve ever read a story as bad as this one. Emma has 2 boyfriends (don’t get me started!), a great job and a lovely flat and yet she moans all the time. Luc is depicted as a long haired, skulking Frenchman that dresses all in black (complete with bomber jacket) and breaks into the heroine’s flat to go through her underwear – certainly not anyone I would fantasise about! And after Emma is attacked, threatened with death, drugged, kidnapped, tied to a bed in a rundown farmhouse – the first thing she thinks is that Luc (who did all these things to her) could do with a shave which would make him even more attractive! Absolute rubbish – words cannot express how bad this story was.

Once Upon A Mattress – Vicki Lewis Thompson

Amelia Townsend’s Bedroom Fantasies shop is a tremendous hit – even if her love life is at a major low. But being the boss isn’t all it’s cracked up to be as she can’t be seen to favour any of the employees – but especially not delicious Will Murdoch – a man that makes her go weak at the knees. And now, just before Valentine’s Day he shows her some attention… and asks her for her advice on how to pursue another woman!

A very cute story from Vicki Lewis Thompson about two people who feel they are all wrong for each other but can’t help want what they shouldn’t have. Will and Amelia are both lovely characters and the chemistry is sparkling. A very sweet and enjoyable tale.

Special Deliveries – Marisa Carroll

Nine year old Dani Jenson and her little sister think that new girl in town, Christy would make the perfect Valentine for their Dad, Del. So they set about trying to get the pair together by sending Christy some secret admirer notes. Christy and Dell were once the love of each other’s life until one fateful Valentine’s Day ten years ago cahgned everything. But now Christy is back in town and she’s getting some rather odd love notes – but rather than sending her into Del’s arms, it sends her running to the police!

This was an okay story – not very exciting but not very offensive either. The main characters were real enough but lacked any depth or chemistry which made their romantic reunion quite unrealistic and abrupt. Readable and sweet but nothing special – you could afford to miss this story.

Overall, I have to say that I really can’t recommend this anthology. I enjoyed Vicki Lewis Thompson’s story and the third story was fine but not worth shelling out for. And the Anne Stuart story was just so bad that it really drags down the whole book. There are plenty of other excellent anthologies out there so if you’re looking for fun, quick romantic reads then you are sure to find something else more suitable. Only 2 stars.