Log in with Facebook 
4.5 seriously hot sexual exploration romantic read
@GoddessFish, @SedonaHutton, #Contemporary #Romance, 4 out of 5 (very good)
The Perfect Lap is the second book in the Racing Hearts series, and this time we meet with AJ and Ella. Ella made a mistake and lost her job because of it. She also split with her boyfriend as he had a hand in it too. AJ is a great racing driver, but lets his personal issues cloud his mind once he has finished the race. Together, these two have lessons to learn.
This was an easy read, and a great follow on to book one. It didn't have the same pizazz for me as Nora's Promise, but it was still a charming read. AJ really does have a heart of gold, and just needs Ella's help to focus on what is really important. In turn, Ella needs to realise that not every man is a write-off. Add in three children and a down-on-her-luck mother, and you have all the ingredients for the story. I particularly liked seeing the cameos from Nora and Davey, plus the hints of the books to come.
A smooth read, with no editing or grammatical errors that disrupted my reading, this was perfectly paced and with a strong set of characters. You do not have to know anything about Nascar racing either (which is a bonus for me!) Absolutely recommended, but I would suggest you start with Nora's Promise first, just to get the bigger picture.
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Merissa
Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
More Mal and co. is always good and I'm enjoying the switch from filling in gaps left by the early demise of Firefly to continuing the story beyond the Serenity film, however there's also a little gem of a self-contained story here that looks back on Zoe and Wash. Don't start here.
*Possibly spoilerish!!!!*
Starting out I felt this book had the potential to be really good. The first chapters weren't all that bad, so I was really rooting for it. But along the way, it just quickly became dull and an overall hot mess. I ended up putting this down for several months and picked it up again last night. Right away it became clear as to why I had set it aside in the first place. While the premise of the story appealed to me, it didn't feel like the plot was really going anywhere. Often time other than a random action point, it felt more about the attraction of the protagonist (Adalyn) and her intended love interest, (Samarra). It felt like there was the neverending loop of 'I know she's not looking for a serious relationship, but I want her to be mine.' trope. It got old fast when I just wanted to see where this plot was going to go! Personally, I wasn't really big on either of the characters, there wasn't anything interesting about either.
Nevertheless, I decided to power on, since I was already halfway through it. I really wanted to like the book, because I am always up for discovering new queer romances. The prospect of a book with lesbian shifters interested me, as I had mainly seen books with male shifters. But there was barely any lore or how they came to be within the world. Part of what makes supernatural/paranormal elements interesting to me is when the author actually includes defining information in the story. For the author to just plop it in there, without explaining much of Samarra's world, made it not that interesting to read about. Plus half of the book Adalyn doesn't even know that her love interest, is a shifter. Even when it does come out it isn't really a super big reveal. Then somehow along the way, it's casually suggested that Adalyn herself, might have shifter genes but it isn't really taken any further. It's like the author decided to drop it in, as an FYI. Also, I don't know who edited this book, but there were tons of typos and misuse of words. Plus at one point the author I believe, intended to say Adalyn instead of Samarra, because of the way it was written. Then there were the sexy times themselves, while there were a few steamy moments that were generally not bad.
I found most of them to be very awkwardly written, and not at all enjoyable to read. While I enjoy dialogue during sex scenes, it was just excessive and wasn't even sexy in my opinion. What got we most about the story was this one instance, where Samarra is thinking about how envious she is that hyena shifters are intersex. That because they had a cock they could love a woman in the way that she couldn't. That part had me going wtf?! You don't need to have a dick to make your female lovers happy! Where the author thought that needed to be said at all in the book baffles me. Way to completely ignore that there are plenty of ways for lesbians to have sex, without using a dildo. Not having a male piece, doesn't mean you aren't going to be able to please your girlfriend. Plus it seems in general that Samarra has this complex, about using her dildo. To the point that she wears it ninety percent of the time. It's totally fine that she wants to use it in the bedroom, however, to me it's clearly an issue of hers as to why she uses it. Which begs the question, could she be transgender? I don't know because it never gets brought up, so it leaves me to think that she has a narrowed minded view on the different ways you can make love.
Another instance that had that me shaking my head, is when the police hint at the idea of Adalyn sleeping with her boss in the past. Instead of stating that she's never been with a male and that she prefers women. Her response is to affirmatively tell him that she's a lesbian, and not bisexual. The whole tone of that seemed slightly biphobic, by the sheer audacity in her tone. It wasn't a huge thing, but it still made my eyebrow twitch. Lastly, when the big showdown finally arrived it was pretty much fell flat. It wasn't anything spectacular, it was over and done within a few sentences. Which makes the entire book lackluster and made me go 'That's it?'. There were just so many holes within this story and I could honestly go on and on, but I am gonna end it here. I did not like this book and would not recommend it.
