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steamy saturdays

Powder of Love by Summer Devon

By Barb Drozdowich

sugarbeats books romance books romance book reviews steamy saturdays

Welcome to Sugarbeat’s Books – The Home of the Romance Novel

Welcome also to Steamy Saturdays!

This is the day that I post a review of a book that is on the steamier side of romance.  Today’s selection is Powder of Love by Summer Devon.  Frankly, it is so steamy that it will certainly fog up your glasses!  I reviewed this book for The Romance Reviews and my review can be found there as well.

Powder of Love by Summer Devon
ISBN: 978-1-60737-957-7
Publisher: Loose Id
Release: Mar 1, 2011
Source: The Romance Review

 

sugarbeat's books romance novels romance book reviewsWealthy heiress Rosalie Ambermere doesn’t know why Gideon Reed sits scowling in her sitting room. Or why she finds him so appealing. She’d envisioned her heart falling to a serene gentleman, not to this unpolished, brooding man. And yet she finds Mr. Reed absurdly attractive. Surely her craving for his touch is due to the strange powder she recently inherited from her rakehell cousin. When Gideon offers to help her find a way to dispose of the aphrodisiac, she agrees. Best to be rid of the powder and the man in one fell swoop.

Hired as a keeper, former detective Gideon must follow his oversexed client Walter everywhere, including into lovely ladies’ homes. Reed suspects Miss Ambermere is just another eager chapter in Walter’s endless diary of bedroom conquests. Another hedonistic woman spoiled by inherited wealth, until he learns there’s another draw for Walter — the powder that could create disaster in the idiot’s hands. He soon understands there is more to the alluring Miss Ambermere than meets the eye; perhaps enough to tempt even his disillusioned heart. Gideon must work with Rosalie to safely dispose of the powder without falling prey to the dangerous effects of pure chemistry.

Are aphrodisiacs real? If they are, what happens when they affect various members of a Victorian era household. Powder of Love is a funny, spicy and at times, a downright graphic story of a woman who inherits a box full of aphrodisiac. It has a collection of characters trying to get hold of the powder and one woman trying to get rid of it.

Rosalie Ambermere has had an unconventional upbringing. Her parents were married, yet live on different continents. In order to force her father to send her to Amercia to live with her mother, Rosalie spent time with her cousin Johnny, Lord Williamsford, the black sheep of the family. Cousin Johnny, although pleased that a member of his family would acknowledge him, delighted in shocking young Rosalie.

It is now years later and Rosalie is living on her own in New York City. Her solicitor visits to let her know that she has inherited various possessions from her recently deceased cousin Johnny. Although most will arrive by crate, her solicitor reluctantly hands over a wooden box. Amid warnings of caution when dealing with this box, he admits that it supposedly contains an aphrodisiac. From his comments, he truly believes what he says. He warns her that two men will visit and try to buy this box, and she needs to deal with them carefully. Mr. Reed and Mr. Clermont are both interested in buying the aphrodisiac for different reasons. Mr. Reed has been hired by Mr. Clermont’s family to ride herd on him. It seems that Mr. Clermont is oversexed and his family feel he needs a keeper to prevent him from being overly aggressive in his desires. Over the months Mr. Reed has been with him, he has been exposed to Mr. Clermont’s insaiatable desire. He seems to find willing, or almost willing females everywhere! Mr. Reed is determined to keep the aphrodisiac out of Mr. Clermont’s hands.

This story is outstanding in many ways! The characters are very well developed! This story was set in 1880. The characters fit in the time that they were written, yet the story has almost a modern feel to it. The growing relationship between the dour Gideon Reed and the outgoing and strong willed Rosalie is delightful to read. Rosalie’s interactions with the various secondary characters are well written. The presence of this aphrodisiac provides for some pretty hilarious comedy as various people fall under it’s influence. It is also the cause of some of the steamy action that occurs. At just under 200 pages, this book is a wonderfully complete read. It’s a story that stays with you long after you finish reading! This book isn’t for the faint of heart! The sex is graphic; it involves group sex, public sex and M/M sex.

Amazon Purchase Link for Powder of Love

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Love Under Two Honchos by Cara Covington

By Barb Drozdowich

Welcome to Sugarbeat’s Books – The Home of the Romance Novel

Today is Steamy Saturdays! 

This is the day that I post a review for a book that I’ve read that is on the steamier side of romance.  Today’s book is on that I read and reviewed for The Romance Reviews.

 

Love Under Two Honchos By Cara Covington
ASIN: B004QZ9YAW
Publisher: Siren Publisher
Release: Mar 7, 2011
Source: I received a copy of the book to read and review for The Romance Reviews


Josh and Alex have devised what they believe to be a sound, logical method for finding a wife. Then Penelope Primrose enters their lives, and suddenly they’re not as interested in their logical plan as they had been. The more the brothers indulge themselves in Penelope, the more they want her. Penelope accepts a job offer from Kate Benedict, never expecting to find love under two honchos. She can neither explain nor deny the instant passion that brothers Josh and Alex Benedict ignite in her. But life has taught her only a fool counts on a happy ever after, and she’s no fool. But then she finds out about the Legacy Project, and suddenly Penelope is no longer willing to settle for what she thinks the brothers Benedict are offering her. Will Josh and Alex be able to convince Penelope that she can have her happy ever after with them before she walks out of their lives for good?

Love Under Two Honchos is an unexpectedly, tender romance that takes an menage and turns it into a normal situation.  Two men are looking for a wife, a grandmother is interfering in their love life, and young woman takes a job offered by a friend.  All these things combine to make an incredibly hot, yet tender happily ever after.

Josh and Alex Benedict are the head honchos of Benedict Oil and Minerals,  one of the many companies involved in the Lusty, Texas Town Trust. This Trust is a group of family members involved in various enterprises that center around the town of Lusty, Texas.  The unique thing about Lusty is the relationships you will find there.  Each woman has two husbands.  Since Josh and Alex grew up with two fathers, it seems logical to to them to search for the perfect wife together.  Being the scientists that they are, they proceed with this search in a methodical way.  They develop a plan, that they call The Legacy Plan, outlining what they want in a bride, and a list of potential candidates.  They they start “interviewing” the candidates.  Interfering with this, are threats that they have been receiving, and their grandmother, the family matriarch, and force of nature that she is, finding out about these threats.  She takes the situation in hand and hires Penelope Primrose, the granddaughter of her best friend to conduct an environmental assessment.  What Josh and Alex don’t know is that their grandmother has decided that Penelope will be perfect for them and has set them up.

This book was really interesting to read.  It read like a normal romance – at no time did the author treat the fact that two men were looking for one wife as odd.   The two brothers acted in harmony when they were with Penelope – almost as if they were completing one another’s thoughts or actions.  Since all the family members were either part of a menage or seeking to be part of one, the state of a threesome was completely normal in this family.  Although the sex between the three of them was scorchingly hot, the love and tenderness that the three displayed was heart melting.
I loved how the author created two overbearing men for Penelope and then allowed her to deal with them in her own way.  She is quite capable of dealing with two men!

Although the dialogue moves the story right along, the author also uses the characters’ thoughts to give the reader an insight into the other character’s reactions.  The two secondary characters that I really liked were Grandma Kate and Stella, the administrative assistant at Benedict Oil and Minerals.  Both are strong, manipulative, yet maternal characters.  This story seems to have a whole host of strong female characters that all work very well together.  They also all interact with Josh and Alex (also strong characters) equally well.  None of the characters seem to dominate any of the others.

I was somewhat apprehensive about this story when I found out that it was two brothers forming two parts of the menage.  I was afraid that there would be an uncomfortable “ick” factor to the story.  Instead, I found a story about a wonderful relationship were two brothers act as two halves of a whole.  I highly recommend this story!

Amazon Purchase Link for Love Under Two Honchos [The Lusty, Texas Collection] (Siren Publishing Menage Everlasting)

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In the Cards by Cynthia Selwyn

By Barb Drozdowich

Welcome to Sugarbeat’s Books – The Home of the Romance Novel!

Welcome also to Steamy Saturdays.  I’ve decided that Saturday is going to be the day that I post a review of one of the steamier books I have read!  This week’s selection I read for the Romance Reviews and found it to be delightful!

In the Cards by Cynthia Selwyn
ISBN: 978-1-926930-41-1
Publisher: Breathless Press
Release: 2011
Source: I received a copy of this book from TRR to read and review

Alexandrea Taylor writes historical fiction, not erotica. She can’t even think the word…um…p-e-n-i-s. But she wishes she could. When her editor wants her to write a story about a cowboy and a bordello using a pack of sex-aid cards, she fantasizes about buying her dream home. Except she’s sure she’s too boring in bed to imagine erotic scenarios. She can’t even keep her fiance satisfied—she caught him in their bed with another woman. If it wasn’t for her friend Zach, she doubts she’d feel attractive at all.

Zach O’Connor would do anything for his friend, Alex. She’s the only woman he’s ever met who doesn’t treat him like a piece of meat. And now that they’re sharing a hotel room at a conference, it’s his opportunity to show her what she means to him. When she asks for his help with a sexy role-playing assignment, he knows this is his chance to show Alex she’s not only the woman of his fantasies, but the woman of his heart as well.

With some silk scarves, massage oil and imagination, it’s all in the cards.

What happens when you take a romance author, a cowboy and a little box of foreplay cards?  Do you get more than research?  This little book blew me out of the water – one of the best romances I’ve read all year!

In the Cards is a short little story about Alexandra Tayor, a romance writer and her best friend, Zach O’Conner.  They have been friends since they were 12 and 13 years old respectively and have always loved one another.  Alex is short and a bit chubby and perfect in Zach’s eyes, but she’s taken.  She been living with Tim (who Zach fondly calls “The Asshole”) for 4 years.  Zach has been bidding his time, waiting for Tim to screw up!

Although Zach has always been Alex’s best friend and she sees him for what is inside him, not the dazzlingly gorgeous exterior that has women everywhere drooling as he walks past.  Although she has always been in love with Zach, she can’t imagine him ever finding her attractive.

The opening scene in this book grabs the reader’s attention right away.  Zach in full cowboy gear complete with spurs and a saddle, walks into a romance writers convention to meet Alex.  There is a description of everything coming to a complete halt at the sight of Zach; bags dropping to the ground and women drooling.  Zach is completely oblivious to the devastation he has created to swing Alex up into his arms with the comment “Alex! Yo, sweet stuff, how’s it hanging?”

I loved this book!  The author does an outstanding job of creating characters that the reader cheers for, and laughs with.  Reading the author’s bio at the end of the book a comment caught my attention.  “Her goal with each book is to bring a smile to her reader’s faces and love to their hearts, buy writing a sexy story with a touch of magic.”

She certainly has done that with this book!  Although it is only 95 pages, it feels like a full length novel.  The story moves fast, the sex is inventive and pretty graphic, yet the book has the feel of a romance novel, not simply an erotica.  Zach in his jeans, boots and hat give a cowboy feeling to this contemporary romance.  Definitely pick up this book and give this author a try!  I’m looking forward to anything else this author writes!

Amazon Purchase Link for In the Cards

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