Tag: lydia-michaels • BookLikes

review 2021-12-19 04:05

Audiobook Review: Pining for You (Jasper Falls) by Lydia Michaels, Narrated by Lucinda Gainey

Pining for You (Jasper Falls) - Lydia Michaels

Pining for You by Lydia Michaels

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Audiobook Review: Pining for You (Jasper Falls) by Lydia Michaels, Narrated by Lucinda Gainey

Michaels makes every moment feel like home. A slice of life with a sense of humor proves itself to be all heart. Skylar and Rhett play with emotions in the most delightful way. From laugh out loud to touch your heart, Pining for You is proof that love will never go out of style.

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review 2021-12-19 03:55

Audiobook Review: Love Me Nots (Jasper Falls) by Lydia Michaels, Narrated by Ava Erickson

Hopeless Romantic

Love Me Nots (Master Falls) - Lydia Michaels

Love Me Nots by Lydia Michaels

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Audiobook Review: Love Me Nots (Jasper Falls) by Lydia Michaels, Narrated by Ava Erickson

Frustratingly funny turns out to be adorably sweet. Despite the emotional chaos that haunts her stories, Michaels never loses her ability to find the humor in every moment. Love Me Nots shortens the journey but doesn't hold back on the ride. A pocket full of sunshine wrapped in an abundance of heart.

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review 2019-10-08 22:33

Contemporary Romance

debjonesdiem

BLIND: A Mastermind Novel - Lydia Michaels

Blind is a contemporary romance by Lydia Michaels. Ms. Michaels has provided readers with a well-written book. I enjoyed the characters. Lettie is a school teacher that hasn't found her Mr. Right, she hasn't even found her Mr. Right Now. Asher Roan and his friends are owners of GeekPeek, a social media network. He had a huge crush on Lettie in high school, but she sided with the bullies. Asher and Lettie's story is loaded with drama, humor, sizzle and angst. A little too much angst for this old woman, I think it made the story drag a bit. I did enjoy the book though and would read more from Lydia Michaels in the future. Blind is book 1 of the Mastermind Series but can be read as a standalone. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

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review 2018-07-19 00:07

God and Blowjobs

WhiskeyintheJar Romance

Recommended by J.D. Thank you!

Perhaps they’d always been aware of each other, but were both smart enough to know they made no sense as anything more than acquaintances in a small town.

A small town, a girl who's mother dies early in her life leaving only a masculine presence which combined with her deeply held faith has her being a 24yr old virgin, a boy who attracts women early gaining a reputation that has him being the go to for a good night, and an attraction that doesn't seem to make sense.

The whole trope of heroine being the shy girl who loves the hero from afar and the bad boy with hidden depth who never thought he was good enough for heroine, is one I can't help but enjoy and I greatly did for the first 20%.

After years of watching him, she’d seen hidden moments where his focus drifted and his smile faltered as if he was exhausted with putting on the charm. There was no denying Kelly was a funny and entertaining person to be around, but…so much of it was a performance.

The author did a great job of giving these two trope heavy characters and giving them depth. The heroine was considered a wallflower by everyone and socially acted like that but with the hero she showed her backbone and tilted his world on edge. The hero loved women and they loved him but he kind of always wondered about the heroine (we get a few flashbacks of him talking with her highschool), wanted something deeper, but never thought he was worth more because of his early formative years of having girls only want one thing from him.

These two were so adorable in the beginning and gave me all the ooey gooey feelings.

“Would you date a virgin?”

His lips buttoned up and he looked away. “Uh, I’m a little too…I got a sweet tooth.”

She frowned. “What?”

He blew out a breath. “I like sex, love. Lots of sex. Crazy, swinging from the chandeliers, make you scream, feel it days later sex.” He scratched his head and grimaced. “I’m really not that complicated. I basically only come with two settings, hungry and horny.” He laughed and gazed away, mumbling, “If you don’t see me with a hard on, make me food. Ah, but then I start thinking about cobbler and soft peaches and…” He cleared his throat and shifted.

She didn’t know where to look, but she couldn’t look at him. Her head turned with jagged increments as she focused her stare anywhere but at him.

He chuckled. “Sorry. Maybe that was a bit too graphic on my part.”

“Sometimes waiting means more than the act,”she offered lamely. Her decision really couldn’t compete with chandelier monkey screaming antics—not with Kelly. That was for sure. And was he actually talking about cobbler or was it a metaphor? Did he do stuff with food? Jeeze, she was ignorant, but now she was really curious.

Our wallflower didn't back down around him and I enjoyed her backbone and I felt for how the hero was so vulnerable. After the beginning first half though, the heroine's virginity started to become a huge focus, religious talk featured heavily, and there was the icky "not like those other slutty desperate girls" from the hero.

“Because I’m not like other girls,” she said frowning at her lap.

“Yeah, but not for the negative reasons you’re probably thinking. I know a lot of women. You’re different, interesting. You don’t cover yourself with fancy crap and pretend to be someone you’re not. You’re honest and unguarded.”

She snorted. “We’re all guarded.”

The hero was ugh with this thinking but delightfully, the heroine would come to the defense of the women, but I got tired of the "other women are so desperate when they only want sex from me". Now, I'm not religious so I have contradictory views with Christianity, so my personal enjoyment will vary if you're of a different school of thought. The heroine is a virgin because of her faith and how she's suppose to save her "innocence" for her husband. When she is trying to date, she ends up finding out that one of her dates is a virgin, also because of his faith. What does she think? She doesn't like it, she thinks about how the hero is better because of his experience. I'm all for personal decisions but this thinking of women must remain innocent because of God but men can sleep with anything is so barfy to me, I'm just not going to enjoy a story where the whole middle talks about this.

The second half I lost the beginning spark and building connection between the two because sex became the focus. I'm not lying when I say this book is largely about God and blowjobs. I don't know if there is a category or sub-genre labeled Christian erotica but this would fit squarely there. I honestly felt like their rushed marriage was so they could have sex, their emotional connection stops being built and felt after they are married. The ending was rushed with a bunch of little added dramas and angst.

The first 20% was very close to building up to a 5 stars but I'm not a Christian and their emotional building and bonding was replaced with endless faith talk and sexy times, making me not the target audience and not feeling their heat in the bedroom.

romance series Contemporary Lydia Michaels kyraryker-review

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review 2016-08-12 01:23

Protege by Lydia Michaels

~*Krissys Bookshelf Reviews*~

For too long, French teacher Collette Banks has locked her deepest desires away in the darkest corners of her mind. But now, she’s taking matters into her own hands by applying to a secret and exclusive society devoted to matching people with their ideal partner—or partners…

Founder Jude Duval has set up strict rules for admitting people into his world. But when he interviews Collette, he finds himself breaking protocol. Her innocence disarms him. Her willingness to explore her own sensuality delights him. And her spirit challenges him—enough to take her on as his own protégé .

What starts out as Collette’s erotic awakening will draw them both in deeper than either of them could have ever imagined…

I really liked Protege more than I have many other dom/sub erotica's lately because at least the author appears to have a better understanding of what d/s relationships really are. She also expands her concept also extends to include instead of fidelity a sense of freedom in exploring not just eachother but the freedom aspect in being able to explore group sex without shame because its considered a form of testing ones limitations.

The sex scenes are really hot and well explored in detail and so are the more emotional more personal interactions away from the sex.

This is where I hit a couple snags. Collette has plenty of reservations about the lifestyle due to her past and Jude had a wishwash way of accepting her ignorance with demanding her submission despite knowing about her past.

Past development in Erotica novels has recently become an issue for me lately because this genre is full of characters that are flawed, broken and come from traumatizing pasts. I would like to read one erotica that doesn't include a hero or heroine who hasn't been abused or harmed in some way or damaged in some way in order for them to want to be a part of the bdsm world.

I thought Collette could have as easily been an innocent minded person without the past she had but often many authors use this as the reason for the f/m to want to be a part of the world to begin with. It triggers their need to explore it and it expresses a connection to that trauma while they're in it. It exorcises something within them to do it. That's understandable but I felt Collette could have just as well done without it and it would have prevented the mixed feelings I had about Jude's constant back and forth from preventing me from investing in him as a character and a partner to Collette.

It would have made their interactions and the development of their relationship much more healthier and organic to me as a reader.

I still felt it was a really great book but to me personally I would really like to see normal characters without all the baggage and trauma explore this world as well.