Tag Archives: interracial

Well that was an epic instalment in this fab paranormal series

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TangledWarriors_Digital_500Tangled Warriors by Jocelynn Drake & Rinda Elliott

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When the Fire Weaver Lucien Cummings first appeared it was obvious from the start he would be everything his element proclaims.

He’s prickly, he’s quick to temper, he’s gorgeous and he knows it and he’s certainly not willing to put up with the arrival of the Water Weaver Calder Saito.

Of course, Lucien isn’t willing to examine quite why Calder’s presence aggravates him so much but the rest of the Weavers – Grey in particular – are more than aware that it’s a spark of attraction flowing between the two.

When they run into Gio Russo in a bar it becomes blindingly clear to all that the reason for all the emotions flying between them is because they’re soul mates. They just needed their other one 😁

With Tangled Warriors Jocelynn and Rinda really lay down the heat. Lordy be, Fire and Water produce ALL THE STEAM! The three of them are so amazingly connected, it’s not just the sex, although that’s explosive, but they instantly click.

Gio buffers the antagonistic elements between the two Weavers but he’s not just there as a fill-in. He’s absolutely vital to their happiness and it becomes very obvious that he’s landed in a situation he doesn’t know what to do with because he’s been burnt by a poly relationship before.

There’s a lot of humour in this entry, even though the stakes are getting higher and higher as the pestilents have kidnapped the Air Weaver and the goddesses can’t track his location.

It’s probably got the most smexy times as well, but it fits into the narrative smoothly as the three men’s interactions provide the set up for a couple of encounters with the pestilents that really gets the adrenaline pumping.

Gio’s family are an absolute riot, I loved them so much, and as the series long story arc draws nearer its end, things really do kick up a gear. It’s all actions go for the final quarter of this book as the plot drives the Weavers and their mates into an all-out epic rescue of young Hale.

So now we’re down to just one book to come, I can’t wait for Hale’s story, he’s much younger than the other guys and seems to be quite lost. But he has a bit of a cheeky nature and I’m intrigued to find out who his unconventional mate is going to be!

Oh and to finally take down John and the rest of his alien pestilence invaders 😁

#ARC kindly received from the authors in return for an honest and unbiased review

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Release Blitz: For the Love of April French by Penny Aimes

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For The Love of April French | Penny Aimes

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Release Date: August 31st, 2021

Buy Link: https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781335630995_for-the-love-of-april-french.html

Add to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56472981

READ MY REVIEW

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Blurb

April French doesn’t do relationships and she never asks for more.

A long-standing regular at kink club Frankie’s, she’s kind of seen it all. As a trans woman, she’s used to being the scenic rest stop for others on their way to a happily-ever-after. She knows how desire works, and she keeps hers carefully boxed up to take out on weekends only.

After all, you can’t be let down if you never ask.

Then Dennis Martin walks into Frankie’s, fresh from Seattle and looking a little lost. April just meant to be friendly, but one flirtatious drink turns into one hot night.

When Dennis asks for her number, she gives it to him.

When he asks for her trust, well…that’s a little harder.

And when the desire she thought she had such a firm grip on comes alive with Dennis, April finds herself wanting passion, purpose and commitment.

But when their relationship moves from complicated to impossible, April will have to decide how much she’s willing to want.

An Entertainment Weekly Best Romance of Summer 2021

“This book gave me every last one of the Intense Romance Feelings I crave.” —New York Times bestselling author Talia Hibbert

Excerpt

April French was having what she considered to be a good night. She was lonely and she was horny, but the lovely thing about Frankie’s, even on a Wednesday, was that she was prob­ably not the only one. And the welcome wagon gambit was working. New doms always responded well to a little attention. She wondered how many of the hookups in her limited sexual history it accounted for—post-transition, of course. Her sexual history pre-transition was not only limited but singular.

On second thought, that was a depressing thing to contemplate. She decided to steer her mind back to the present, because her present was damn good-looking. He was Black, looked to be about her age, dark-skinned and tall, with narrow hips and shoulders that were probably narrower than hers, too.

There were clear hints of lean muscle under his suit, and the suit looked expensive. She didn’t really care about the name brand, but she had to admit the cost was reflected in how well it draped his body. He had short-cropped, wiry hair and that sexy kind of two-day stubble thing happening. A reassuring bass voice and an unreadable calm that made his face a handsome mask. The tightly wound dominants were almost always the most fun to see come unraveled with desire.

“So. You can flirt,” she said, trying to keep her voice even despite the smile tugging the corners of her mouth. It wouldn’t do to tip her hand just yet about how attractive he was. “And you wear nice suits. What else should I know about you?”

“Well, I just moved here,” he said. “Which you also knew. My name is Dennis. I came here from Seattle.”

She nodded, as Aerith set down a new Painkiller in front of her. “I’m April. Grow up out there?”

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Illinois, actually. Little tiny town.”

“Oh hey,” she said, her smile shifting to be a little less flir­tatious and a lot more genuine. It was always a treat to meet someone from the same basic context; someone she could count on to get it. Not that she expected to spend much time talking about growing up in the Midwest, but it was still a nice bonus. “Ohio. I went to school out East, though, and worked there for a while.”

He laughed. “So a lot like me, but in the opposite direc­tion. UC Santa Barbara.”

She bobbed her head. “Wesleyan.”

They exchanged graduation years; she guessed he was prob­ably thirty-five or thirty-four to her thirty-two. “What took you out there?” he asked.

“It was as far away as I could get without driving into the

ocean,” she said with a laugh. “And they had good financial aid. You?”

“About the same, about the same. Lots of loans, in the end.” She nodded as he went on. “While I was getting my masters, a couple of my friends got a start-up going and brought me in, and we headed up the coast to Seattle.”

“Ooh,” she said. “A techie. I should’ve known.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Well, most of the folks who come here from the West Coast are,” she said. Especially the ones who could afford that suit.

“You’re right, anyway. I was the support team, not the talent, though. My degree’s in technology management.” He sipped. “Start-up life isn’t for the long haul, so I came here to take a job as CTO for a small firm. What about you?” he asked.

She fidgeted with the little straw in her drink, then drew it out. Chomped a cherry deliberately. “Poli-sci major. I don’t use it, though.”

“Hm.” His eyes watched her mouth. Good. “So weird, isn’t Austin where they have that political particle accelerator?”

He was smirking at his pun, and she snorted. “Queeons and Kingons?” At his blank expression, she added, “You don’t read Terry Pratchett, do you?”

He shook his head. “No, I was just teasing.”

Her smile snatched at the corners of her mouth again. “Teasing’s okay.” She was fighting herself not to relax fully into the moment, to keep up her boundaries until they crossed the preliminary hurdles. This might not be anything, yet. But he was cute, and he was funny, and he was—so far—gentle. She thought she could really like this guy. She knew she liked the way his eyes settled on her, the weight his gaze seemed to have.

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Carina Adores is home to highly romantic contemporary love stories featuring beloved romance tropes, where LGBTQ+ characters find their happily-ever-afters.

Discover a new Carina Adores book every month!

  • Sailor Proof by Annabeth Albert (coming September 28)
  • Meet Me in Madrid by Verity Lowell (coming October 26)
  • The Life Revamp by Kris Ripper (coming November 30)
  • If You Love Something by Jayce Ellis (coming December 28)
  • D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding by Chencia C. Higgins (coming January 25)

About the Author

3-AuthorPhoto-PennyAimes

Penny Aimes is a trans woman writing contemporary romance about trans women and other people who don’t always find themselves in romance novels.

She was assigned Hoosier at birth but has lived on the east coast and in China before landing in Austin, Texas. She lives in the heart of the music district with her wife and a very small bird with a very loud voice.

Social Media

Website: https://www.pennyaimes.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/campkilkare

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/20930040.Penny_Aimes

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Penny-Aimes/e/B08T6MN8WK

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I fell in love with April French just as hard as Dennis does!

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FTLOAFcover221509-mediumFor the Love of April French by Penny Aimes

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I requested this ARC but what I got was something good.

This is, as odd as that might seem, quite a fluffy and sweet BDSM kink book which focuses on an element of the fetish world I’ve not really read much about yet, and I really enjoyed it.

There is no way I could ever claim to understand the unique pressures life as a trans woman or a black man in modern day America can bring, but I feel that this book gave me a unique insight into a part of those fears – and joys.

April French is a wonderfully complex character. I adored her, her vulnerability, her strength, her determination to move on and live an authentic life, even with the scars she carries.

Dennis Martin is a gem of a man too. He’s made mistakes in his first kink relationship and he’s still not really dealt with that when he bumps into Mama April on his first venture to Frankies, a local queer and kink friendly bar his best friend Jason has recommended.

And, at this point, can I just say I hope this is going to be a series and Jason’s up next!

What follows is an, at times painful to read, at others a simply stunning, expression of self, romance which develops from the initial one night stand into a haltingly beautiful relationship.

I read it all in one go, I couldn’t put it down because I just needed to know if they would make it. Of course, this being a Carina Adores line, I really knew they would, but I wanted to see how they managed the journey to reach happiness.

I only haven’t given it 5* because I felt I needed more of them once they had resolved the difficulties and were together. The final few chapters felt a bit condensed and we only got off page mentions in the Epilogue to their HEA a year or so later.

I also felt the kink elements themselves didn’t always get a full expression on page, there’s a bit of steam and then it mostly ends up as fade to black or off page mentions of what they’ve been getting up to.

While I can understand the difficulties of walking the line between fetishising their experiences, I think it would have helped more for someone who doesn’t know much about either being a trans woman or a kink participant, to have seen more of that side of things on page.

But, as it’s a Carina Adores line, I was also expecting it, they tend to be more on the low to medium steam level and I was just really pleased to read this book at all!

#ARC kindly received from the publishers Carina Press via NetGalley in return for an honest and unbiased review

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