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Fall Into Smut Returns!
Well... I got to the smut of my book and it's delightful! Though no good euphemisms just yet, nuts :-)
Night After Night - Lauren Blakely - 3 Stars
Julia is a sassy and confident part owner of the Cubic Z bar in San Francisco. Clay is a successful entertainment lawyer in New York. Clay walks into Julia's bar and sparks fly.
Clay has been burned in the past and he is very anti-secrets in a relationship. Julia just happens to have a secret, one that is dangerous, that she is keeping close to her because she doesn’t want anyone to get hurt.
The storyline was actually decent for a romance novel, but the main characters needed more development and it's obvious the storyline will take place over three books. This one definitely ends in a cliffhanger.
The intimacy scenes of the book are explosive but eventually become repetitive. I doubt I continue with the series but this author has lots of fans.
I was disappointed in this as a Fall Into Smut selection. There's lots of erotic and creative type sex but it just became too repetitive after awhile. There were no funny euphemisms and it ended in a cliffhanger. I decided to go back to the Jilted Brides Honeymoon Club next month.
There's real skill needed to write good smut that doesn't just become repetitive and frankly boring, causing one to skip over it. Also to keep it hot and steamy in book after book. I personally don't like predictability in my smut reading - I'll just reread a favorite for that, thank you. The last couple of posts reminded me of a cozy mystery - zero smut sadly - set in Tuscany where a recently retired police detective is attending a writing seminar in a villa outside Florence. He's planning to write historical fiction set in Tuscany in his retirement and as a retirement gift, his squad gives him this writing seminar. Only it's also a joke as it not an ordinary writing seminar, but one for those who want to write erotica. Now the murder mystery is of course straight and serious, but the seminar is a riot from who is attending (and reflecting who really is writing all erotica) to some of the seminar workshops -- I dare you not to cry with laughter over the discussion over the merits of different descriptions for panties -- and differences between Brits and Americans. Our MC is of course beyond uncomfortable and embarassed.
I do recommend it - as a cozy mystery - Murder in Tuscany by T.A. Williams - who is male and also writes romances I believe.
Just finished
- what a delightfully smutty little novella! I listened to the audiobook version and the voice actors were top notch - especially the MMC, Adam Gold. I could listen to his voice on repeat... I'm getting hot flashes just thinking about him :-)Now I'm on to
. I have mixed feelings regarding Sierra Simone so fingers crossed this will be a good book!
Theresa wrote: "There's real skill needed to right good smut that doesn't just become repetitive and frankly boring, causing one to skip over it. Also to keep it hot and steamy in book after book. I personally don..."Oh - I love me a cozy mystery. I'll have to add this to my TBR list!!
Book Riot's newsletter today highlights newish romance bookshops around the world. BC, do you know about https://www.thewellreddamsel.com in Wauwatosa? They call themselves "your local smut dealer"!Romances, like mysteries, are a category I'll rarely buy as new at a bookstore. They are too quick a read for the money. I buy them used or as sale ebooks, or sometimes audio if I especially like the narrator.
I'm thinking the Wisconsin members need to visit The Well Red Damsel and give an in-person report. The single best reviewed independent bookstore in NYC is also only a couple years old - and is dedicated to romance novels of all kinds: the East Coast The Ripped Bodice Bookstore, located in Brooklyn. It is a delight and lauded for the customer service as well as everything else. It's time I make another visit myself.
Theresa wrote: "I'm thinking the Wisconsin members need to visit The Well Red Damsel and give an in-person report. The single best reviewed independent bookstore in NYC is also only a couple years old - and is d..."
I'm on Long Island and have been meaning to take a trip over to The Ripped Bodice. I'm going to be in Brooklyn in a few weeks and may have to take a detour. I'll keep you all posted.
Kristen wrote: "Theresa wrote: "I'm thinking the Wisconsin members need to visit The Well Red Damsel and give an in-person report. The single best reviewed independent bookstore in NYC is also only a couple year..."
It's delightful and area has excellent restaurants even a French Bakery up the street to restore yourself after the sensory overload of so much to look at. Lovely flower shop across the street. I represent a coop across the street as general counsel. The husband of the board president stops into the shop to buy surprise books for his wife -- and he always raves about it!
Theresa wrote: "Kristen wrote: "Theresa wrote: "I'm thinking the Wisconsin members need to visit The Well Red Damsel and give an in-person report. The single best reviewed independent bookstore in NYC is also on..."
I would love if my boyfriend would go there to buy me surprise books :-)!!! I will have to inception the idea into his brain.
And thanks for the info on the French bakery and flower shop - I may have to make a whole day trip out of visiting this area.
Plus you won't want to be rushed in the shop!
A bit off topic, but have you ever been to Green-Wood Cemetery? Since you mentioned you live in that area. If not, you should definitely take a day trip there, it is a lovely place to spend the day, with many gothic headstones and crypts. They hold festivals, parades, and tours if your interested. If you like Halloween they also have a spookish festival in the evening called "Nightfall". This will be my first year attending, I hear it's wonderful.
Kristen wrote: "A bit off topic, but have you ever been to Green-Wood Cemetery? Since you mentioned you live in that area. If not, you should definitely take a day trip there, it is a lovely place to spend the day..."I keep meaning to take a tour but never have. One of these days I will. I actually enjoy old cemeteries - even visited some famous ones such a Pere Lachaise in Paris. When we took Sunday drives as a kid, we often ended up at old cemeteries just over the border in Central PA checking for relatives (my mother was from a large Irish family in Wyalusing, PA that emigrated here in the 1930s). I think that's where my interest originated.
I live on the UWS of Manhattan. I really need to move Green-wood up on my list! I had no idea about Halloween! A friend lives not far from Greenwood (it's so large - more than one do but one is very close). I'll have to ask if she ever has gone.
Feel free to post your impressions after your visit in Kaffeklatsch! Love to hear them.
Faking ItMy second 'smut' pick was even more fun than my first, but I cheated a little because I was already familiar with Jennifer Crusie
For me, laughter is always the secret ingredient for great action in bed, or in a closet ...
I have to get out more , she thought. Six months of celibacy and she was swapping tongues with burglars in the middle of felonies.
Tilda Goodnight is a good girl. Or at least she is trying very hard to be one, when she doesn’t stumble upon dangerous men while she tries to steal valuable paintings. She is the main support of her family, pimping out her talent for commercial wall paintings that imitate classic masterpieces. The Goodnights own an art gallery that isn’t selling anything. There’s an explanation why, but it’s better to arrive at the answer at the pace set by the author. Right now, all we need to know is that Tilda sneaks into the house of a wealthy art collector, who happens to have a hot fiance named Clea.
Davy Dempsey is not a good guy, but he’s [probably] redeemable. He’s a conman, a burglar, a card-sharp and pool hustler with a taste for blonde bombshells. And he’s mad as hell after his former girlfriend Clea emptied his bank account with help from a crooked accountant named Rabbit. So Davy sneaks back into Clea’s house to steal back the money he initially stole himself from the woman.
... and there happens to be a closet in that dark house.
If you think this is complicated, wait until you meet the rest of the cast.
There’s Gwen, the owner of the gallery, mother to Matilda and Eve and grandmother to teenager Nadine. Then it starts ‘raining men’ in the household, including a probable hit man. To say nothing of the dog named Steve...
full review here
Because I run a little long in commenting on the book, I will only include here a few candidates for Smut Highlight Reel. They are even raunchier when put into context.
Davy’s kiss tasted like vodka and disaster, and even while she kissed him back, Tilda thought, I’m never going into a closet with this man again
There was a possibility that he would lose his shirt to this woman. With a great deal of enthusiasm.
Behind her, Betty Everett sang, “It’s in his kiss,” and Tilda relaxed into the familiar lyric and Davy’s unfamiliar mouth.
“Fifteen minutes,” Davy said. “Time me.”
“You’re in a long-term relationship with an appliance,” Davy said.
“Hey,” Tilda straightened. “I never have to talk to it, it never makes me feel embarrassed, and it never lets me down.”
[...] “Look, this is not a problem. I’m an open minded man. How about a threesome?”
“What?” Tilda said, outraged.
“You, me, and the machine,” Davy said.
“Men tend to miss women who get to the handcuff stage by the second night.”
“If I win, we play Space Invaders.”
“Does she still do the thing with the feathers and the ice cube?”
“What?”
“Oh, Rabbit, don’t tell me you gave her three million dollars and she never pulled out the feather and the ice cube.”
“Con me,” she said.
“I’ll respect you in the morning.”
So, if you want to learn how men are like doughnuts or muffins, give this story a spin. You might also like the earlier Welcome to Temptation, which I think is even wilder and steamier.
I love Jennifer Crusie's books as much because they are funny as for any other reason. I also love the ones she's written with her husband - Agnes and the Hitman is a favorite. I started following her on Facebook during the pandemic as she reported about her and Bob's writing process on a couple of upcoming books. Her posts were HILARIOUS!
Theresa wrote: "I'm thinking the Wisconsin members need to visit The Well Red Damsel and give an in-person report. The single best reviewed independent bookstore in NYC is also only a couple years old - and is d..."
Well, neither Hubby nor I is cleared for driving yet, so it will be a while before I can scope out the Well Red Damsel. But I will check to see if they had any major flood damage last month. Some areas of Wauwatosa had serious damage (like millions of dollars, failed foundations, etc).
The book I just finished, Beautiful Ruins by Jess Walter, is far from a smut read or just a romance novel. It's literary fiction and a romance in the grand sense only. However, as it does include the passionate love story of Burton/Taylor and the making of Cleopatra, as well as other characters' difficult love matches or lack thereof, it did give this quote suitable to the Falling Into Smut Highlight Reel:
she’s felt as if the intimacy has seeped out of it and now there are two distinct phases to sex with Daryl: the first two minutes like an exam from an autistic gynecologist, the next ten a visit from the Roto-Rooter man.
I trashed Autumn Means Marriage... and Murder in my review: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...There is plenty of smut, including the couple going undercover in the Regency equivalent of a swingers club: "Only use the red bell pull if you have enhanced needs you wish to have met" and "Once a week orgies are held every Friday". Of course the hero and heroine only want each other and end up leaving the spa rather quickly, after the heroine stupidly goes off with a man who turns out to be a killer and uses some of the "accoutrements" of the place against her, then sets the building on fire.
Lovemaking alternates exclamations like "Send me flying" with disquisitions on their egalitarian relationship. At the crucial moment, Mary exclaims, "Ack! Gabriel!", which cracked me up.
I've read four books for Fall Into Smut in the last week.Two of them were average smutty romances featuring SEALs and alien gladiators. Both had plenty of creative sex but the storylines were nothing special or new. I gave both 3 Stars because who doesn't love a red hot SEAL or a muscled gladiator?
Forged In Ash - Trish McCallan
Defender - Anna Hackett
On the other hand, I needed a book tagged music so I picked up Storm. I rarely give a 4 Star rating to this type of book but I was totally addicted and thought it had a storyline and some great romantic elements. Totally hot sex but it was a slow burn so the author had to put an actual story together.
Storm - Carian Cole
"Storm" is a forced proximity rockstar romance and is the first of the Ashers and Embers series.
Evelyn is on her way to a conference in the middle of a snowstorm when her car ends up in a ditch. She is rescued by a tattooed, long-haired, motorcycle riding rock god, who offers to drive her to help. When he ends up crashing due to the weather, the two of them become trapped in his truck in the middle of a blizzard. For two days they do little other than eat, sleep and talk, getting to know each other while snuggling together for warmth.
They develop a deep attraction to each other, but Evelyn refuses to acknowledge or act on it. She’s been in a twelve-year relationship and even though it’s clear to Storm, as well as the reader, that it’s a dead-end road, Evelyn refuses to give up.
i found her a bit annoying at times. Storm is sexy and sweet. There’s a lot of slow buildup before the couple engages in actual intercourse but plenty of foreplay while they are waiting to be rescued.
I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this adult romance and plan to read the others eventually. Like most series of this type it looks like each member of the band will find their perfect partner.
I immediately checked out book 2 of the series.
Vandal - Carian Cole
The author tells you in the beginning that there are elements of BDSM and role playing. I am not a prude and whatever consenting adults want to do is okay by me, but at my age it sort of alternates between boring me to death or laughing uproariously. The main male character is a really bad guy so I found nothing romantic about him.
I was still interested in reading about the rest of the band. I just started Lukas and just love the characters. I definitely plan to finish the series.
When I saw this month's tag, I immediately thought of this book - the next in a very creative series. That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a WerewolfThis hilarious book combined steamy romance, a mild cozy mystery, and very creative characters.
Brie is the town cheesemaker (yep, she's named after a cheese). The event described in the title occurs almost immediately - she does accidentally throw a love potion at Felix. Felix is the werewolf who falls hopelessly in love with her.
The story is big enough to include a pirate ship full of demons, a cult trying to bring their giant Lobster god to life, and a very snarky talking sword named Alexis. I sincerely hope that Alexis continues to appear in future books in the series.
The romance was pretty steamy. The descriptions were a little too clinical for me - I'd rather have some great euphemisms. But there were some great lines. The main character is a big girl who describes her big boobs as a benefit from being a 'Woman of Weight'.
Sue wrote: "When I saw this month's tag, I immediately thought of this book - the next in a very creative series. That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a WerewolfThis hilarious bo..."
This sounds fantastic. I'm definitely adding it. "Woman of Weight" makes me think of Precious Ramotswe who describes herself as "Traditionally Built".
Sue wrote: "When I saw this month's tag, I immediately thought of this book - the next in a very creative series. That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a WerewolfThis hilarious bo..."
This thread is where I heard about Kimberly Lemming for the first time. The blurbs are already hilarious enough to tempt me. Can her books be read out of order? or should I start with the first one about a demon?
I like a lot of M/M romances but Shots on Net was disappointing. The characters never seemed real. I was struck by how much the Geek plays the part of the woman in typical M/F romances. The Jock opens doors for him, carries his books, etc. The Geek fixes the Jock's family relationships, usually the woman's job. At the very beginning the Geek announces he is demisexual, which means the Jock has to woo him slowly. So the sex took a while to arrive and seemed a bit clinical. So no really great quotes. Maybe it's supposed to be amusing when the Geek studies up on sexual practices on the internet? This is part of a series and it's clear which friend is getting a book next, but I have no plans to read more.
I absolutely love this thread! I've never heard of Jennifer Crusie and will have to check out some of her books- but my next book will most likely be That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a Werewolf - how can I not read a book wit that as a title!!!
Algernon (Darth Anyan) wrote: "Sue wrote: "When I saw this month's tag, I immediately thought of this book - the next in a very creative series. That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion at a WerewolfThis ..."
You could read them out of order, but she does a lot of the universe-building in the first book, so I would definitely start there.
I would include Murder at the Seven Dials, but alas no smut just heavy breathing.Review- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Booknblues wrote: "I would include Murder at the Seven Dials, but alas no smut just heavy breathing.Review- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
This sounds good, regardless of smut, somewhat like the Wrexford & Sloane series and several others from the era, I've added it to my TBR!
Sue wrote: "Algernon (Darth Anyan) wrote: "Sue wrote: "When I saw this month's tag, I immediately thought of this book - the next in a very creative series. [book:That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion..."I just added this series - the first book anyway - to my IRL Feminerdy Book Club 'to read' library as a future possibility - we like to mix it up and we are about to start planning the next year. Everyone has been enjoying the occasion romantasy tossed in, so why not this?
Robin P wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "I would include Murder at the Seven Dials, but alas no smut just heavy breathing.Review- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
This sounds good, re..."
Me too!
I was telling my Feminerdy BC on Sunday about the 'slow burn' of the Wrexford and Sloane series - and they all put it on their TBRs to tryout (they have until I came along almost exclusively read fantasy and scifi - I've been broadening that, LOL). We got to discussing how many of the slow burn, less smutty or explicit books are hotter reads.
Slow burns fit into Fall Into Smut too -- there are hot kisses described at ends of some I read that raise my temperature more than many an explicit scene.
Robin P wrote: "Booknblues wrote: "I would include Murder at the Seven Dials, but alas no smut just heavy breathing.Review- https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..."
This sounds good, re..."
I hope you like it. It has a bit more gore than a Wrexford & Sloane, but I couldn't put it down.
I just picked up a potential one. I have no idea what it's about. I just chose it for the cover. 🥳
Olivermagnus wrote: "I just picked up a potential one. I have no idea what it's about. I just chose it for the cover. 🥳"😋
The cover reminds me of a recent cartoon I saw on redditt: a couple of trees are trembling from all their branches:- 'Look out! Here comes a woodcutter!
- 'Relax, it's just a hipster!'
I didn't choose this book for the Fall Into Smut challenge, it was a prompt for a book outside of my comfort zone, and I thought romantasy fits the bill nicely, but ...Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarrow has about 540 smut tags and 1200+ spicy tags so here it goes:
"Damn it. Touching you was a bad idea."
"The worst," I agree, but my tongue skims my lower lip.
He groans and my core melts at the sound.
"Kissing you would be a cataclysmic mistake."
"Calamitous." What would it take to hear that groan again?
Second Sight by Amanda Quick is an historical romance and mystery that is the first in a paranormal series published by an author using all 3 of her nom de plumes for different entries: The Arcane Society by Amanda Quick (historicals), Jayne Ann Krentz (contemporary), and Jayne Castle (futuristic). All of them address psychic abilities and all are both romances and murder mysteries. In fact initially these were all shelved by booksellers as romance novels but they are balanced between the two. This is the first in the series and here's my review. As for smut - it's pretty tame by today's standards as far as descriptions, and no particularly amusing euphemisms. However, since both Venetia and Gabriel have strong though differing psychic abilities, the grand moments tend to be described like this:
Energy swirled around them. Her aura, she thought in some distant part of her mind, somehow it had infused with his to create an invisible metaphysical storm that engulfed them both.
While the author has Venetia successfully seducing Gabriel by about page 30, they are not allowed to join together again until a couple hundred pages on as the plot keeps them apart in one way or another. Their next intimate encounter occurs in a long hansom cab ride that is far more romantic than Madame Bovary's with her lover. The HEA includes this description:
Together they sailed the crashing waves of the climax, losing themselves in the shared fires of psychical energy, sexual passion and love.
Not quite rainbows and unicorns.
I finished Fourth Wing and let's just say that the novel turns a lot more X-rated after that first kiss.Calamitous becomes 'thunderous' and a real danger to be anywhere close to these two lovebirds
Asher - Carian Cole - 4 Stars
"Asher" is the final book in the Ashes and Embers series. When I stumbled onto the first book I had no idea how quickly I would become addicted. The sexy adult romance series has some complex storylines, in addition to the sex thread.
Asher and Ember fell in love with each other when they were fifteen years old. Fourteen years later, they have a thriving marriage, teenaged daughter, and a successful music career. Then the unthinkable happens. Ember has an accident and is in a vegetative state due to traumatic brain injury for the next eight years. Asher refuses to remove her life support, sure that eventually she will return to him.
When Ember does wake up, she has no idea who she is or where she is. Imagine her shock when she discovers a man with long hair and tattoos telling her he’s her husband. He also tells her she is a mother, as well as the lead singer of an all-female rock band. But Ember remembers nothing.
Asher was a puzzling character in the previous books. There wasn't much of a backstory other than he was married. His wife was never mentioned and references to Ember were very mysterious. I was excited to finally find out the real story.
I enjoyed this unconventional story. Most romances begin at the start of a relationship but "Asher" started with the main characters in an already established relationship. The focus of the story was Ember's recovery and the difficulty they both had trying to recreate the feelings they had for one another.
Over the first five books of the Ashes and Embers series, I became very invested in the outcome of the characters. Asher was the perfect ending to a wonderful series. I'm really going to miss these wonderfully romantic rock stars.
I absolutely have now put this on my TBR. I particularly love sexy romances that have themes and storylines that engage, make you care about the characters.
Theresa wrote: "I absolutely have now put this on my TBR. I particularly love sexy romances that have themes and storylines that engage, make you care about the characters."The only one that wasn't what I consider "romantic" was Vandal. It had a BDSM thread that I didn't find interesting but the character himself had an interesting storyline. He fell asleep at the wheel killing three people, including his 5 year old daughter.
Lukas woos a woman twelve years his senior. And Talon has the two main characters meeting each other at their wedding (a social experiment where they marry a complete stranger and live together as husband and wife for six months.)
Each can be read as a standalone.
Algernon (Darth Anyan) wrote: "I didn't choose this book for the Fall Into Smut challenge, it was a prompt for a book outside of my comfort zone, and I thought romantasy fits the bill nicely, but ...Fourth Wing..."
I can't remember if that's at the part of the book where she still assumes he wants to kill her, but she can't resist him anyway - I think that's a terrible message for young women!
Well, after a promising cover, Mountain Boss turned out to be a big disappointment.Mountain Boss - S.J. Tilly - 2 Stars - 10/22/25
Review
I did just finish a great erotic novella called Entwined. The blurb says:
The first in a serialized collection of the sexy adventures of Jane in the jungle. Inspired by the stories of Tarzan and Jane, this serial is a creative, edgy, and yet romantically erotic Tarzan and Jane collection. Darker and more intense than Fifty Shades of Grey, Entwined--and the subsequent volumes--are not for the faint of heart.
My library doesn't have the series but I requested it. Definitely fits the smut brief. She often references "the full swollen folds of her quim" and "her hot swollen quim". In fact, quim is used 20 times in the 74 page novella. The Tarzan based character has his work cut out for him.
Entwined - Colette Gale 3+ Stars
I had to Google quim, even though without ever hearing the word before, I did know what it was!
I wasn't expecting smut in this:
The Pumpkin Spice CaféBy golly there is a cute cat named Caspar on the front cover, but inside the cover there is a hunky farmer in a flannel shirt named Logan. He is good at his job and devoted to animals, but he is also good at other things as Jeanie finds out.
Review:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Booknblues wrote: "I wasn't expecting smut in this: The Pumpkin Spice CaféBy golly there is a cute cat named Caspar on the front cover, but inside the c..."
Those farmers hide talent under those flannel shirts!
This turned up in my morning emailhttps://www.romancebooklovers.com/
You can't really do better than free. It's today only.
**rapid fanning**Just page through the covers of the Steamy ones - I didn't even get to page 2.
I did note that there are TWO pages of Steamy...
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Put me down for a subscription to the Smut Highlights reel.