Tag: Emily Cale

Guest Review: Two is Twice as Nice by Emily Cale

Posted January 6, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Tracy’s review of Two is Twice as Nice by Emily Cale

Cara must have been a very good girl this year, because Santa brought her the ultimate gift: two sexy men.

After a car accident last Christmas, Cara McCourt is left broken inside and out. Since then, no guy has bothered to give her the time of day. Just when she’s convinced that no man will ever be interested in her again, she bumps into Anthony while holiday shopping. Unsure at first, Cara is quickly wooed by the man who thinks she is beautiful—despite her disfigurement.

Uncertain if Anthony is too good to be true, she takes a chance, only to find out he’s been keeping a secret: His twin brother, Devon. Too late, Cara is drawn into their games. Will her wounded soul survive their deceit or did Santa actually bring her the ultimate gift: two men of her own?

Cara is Christmas shopping when she literally runs into Anthony. He asks her out for coffee and she agrees. Though she’s hesitant when he asks her out again she agrees to that as well. They end up starting a relationship and Cara is thrilled. Anthony isn’t bothered by her disfiguring scar at all and thinks she’s beautiful. But one night when she mentions a date they went on to a bar Anthony freaks a bit and leaves. When Anthony introduces his identical twin brother, Devon, and lets Cara know that they both want her – together – Cara’s not sure what to think.

I think the story started off on a good foot but I was a tad appalled at Cara’s easy acceptance of something that happened – of which I can’t tell you without completely giving you a huge spoiler. I do understand that Cara had felt for a year that she would never be happy with a man and now she had two who wanted to be with her but the execution just wasn’t to my liking.

This a pretty short story at 33 pages so we didn’t get a lot of insight into Anthony or Devon at all. The story was in third person but we only saw things from Cara’s point of view. I think I would have liked to have seen the story be a bit longer and get more from the men of the story. Also, this is definitely a HFN story and not an HEA. Maybe we’ll hear more about the threesome in the future.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This book is available from Breathless Press. You can buy it here in e-format.

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Tagged: 2.5 Reviews, Breathless Press, Contemporary Erotica, Emily Cale, Reviews, Tracy's Reviews

Guest Review: Tamed by Emily Cale.

Posted January 2, 2011 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Judith’s review of Tamed by Emily Cale.

Tired of bringing home unsatisfying and nameless men, Delia Hawthorne needs a change of pace. When her aunt invites her to spend some time at her family’s Wyoming ranch, it takes little prodding for her to agree. Time away from work, bars and men is exactly what she is looking for.

When Delia arrives, she finds what she has come to avoid: a take-charge ranch hand named Lucas Dane. Despite her aunt’s warnings of Lucas’ womanizing reputation, she decides she may be worth the risk. What starts out as just sex quickly turns into more–forcing Delia to choose between the guy she is falling in love with and her responsibilities back home. What’s a city girl to do?

This is a delightful new release from Breathless Press and it falls somewhere between a short story and a novella. It is erotic contemporary Western fiction, and the author has written with a great deal of confidence in her research. It reflects the work of a writer that is in touch with the context of the story and that, in my experience, helps the reader to take the work seriously.

It is a story of a professional woman who has built a business with her determination and hard work, who has sacrificed just about everything to be professionally successful. Together with her best friend and partner, she has carved out a very satisfying life for herself, having left her family in Wyoming almost as soon as she could. Now living in Portland, OR, she has cut off herself from her roots for a variety of reasons, most of which fall into the category of ” . . . I’m just too busy to take a trip.” The one area of her life, though, that really sucks is her love life. She has managed to find sexual partners but they are usually for one night only, and she has two or three bars where she frankly, trolls for men. That has become tiresome and unsatisfying. In spite of having achieved many of her goals, she is deeply weary and unsatisfied with her life overall. Enter the loving but intrusive aunt–the person who has probably been most influential in Delia’s later growing up years when she spent summers on their ranch in Wyoming.

Lucas Dane is a man who has been in Wyoming all his life, loves the Big Sky Country, is nearly expert in raising horses, and loves working for Delia’s aunt and uncle. He is tall and muscular, good looking in a rugged sort of way, and Delia is immediately attracted to him. But she doesn’t want to be. He, too, sees her when she is exiting her aunt’s car upon her arrival, wearing her city casual wear, totally infit for even walking around in the front yard. She had forgotten how hard it is to walk to the barn in spike heels. Thus, Lucas begins to call her “city girl.”

This is a very engaging story that deals with some of the lifestyle issues that single professional women face–how to balance their professional responsibilities while finding ways to meet their personal needs. Delia has obviously lost focus and is living an unbalanced life. This becomes obvious when it is difficult for her to sleep because it is so quiet. There’s always noise in Portland. Those of us who live in urban areas can relate. Even though Delia is willing to add Lucas to her “men just for sex” list, Lucas isn’t really willing to become relegated to that category. It doesn’t take too long before both of these people find that their hearts have become entangled. Delia really has to struggle with with the choices she faces–can she really return to a life that has become sterile in so many ways when she has found a profound peace she had forgotten existed and a man who cares about her as a woman and not as a professional?

I found this novella to be extremely compelling in its subject matter, in the reality and humanity of its characters, and the realistic context. The story moved along in a way that kept my mind engaged. As it is not a full length novel I was able to read it in one sitting and thus I think I was more aware of the flow of the story. I thought it was so very well-written. This is my first encounter with this particular author but she has demonstrated a lively imagination, good writing skills, and the ability to tell a full and expanded story in a relatively small number of pages. I appreciate that a lot.

So I give this novella a rating of 4 out of 5.

You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Breathless Press. You can buy it here in e-format.

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Tagged: Breathless Press, Contemporary, Emily Cale, Guest Reviews, Judith's Reviews, Reviews, Western Erotica

What I Read Last Week

Posted December 28, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 8 Comments

Wow I’m really behind! I swear the day has totally gotten away from me. I just played Mario Kart on the Wii with my youngest for about an hour and I swear the thumb on my right hand won’t stop twitching! lol

First of all I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas – if you celebrate it. If not, I hope you enjoyed having the day off! lol It was fun around here. The kids were very good so they got good stuff from Santa. We went to my parents house about 1/2 hour away and met up with family there. We ate enough for a small country and then played games that were loud and raucous. A good time was had by all.

My oldest daughter had a rough week after her fall but managed to muddle through (thank you all so much for your well wishes). Her back is much better – hardly even a twinge any longer but she was down and out for a few days – then the poor thing got the flu and was throwing up profusely. I swear, when it rains it pours – not a good week for her. But it ended well with all the gifts! And her 13th birthday is this Thursday so there’ll be more gifts! (Yes, it’s hell on the pocketbook!)

So what did I read this past week?

I started with How to Marry A Duke by Vicky Dreiling. I read this one for The Book Binge so I’ll let you know when my review posts. The story was about a Duke who was finally ready to take a bride in order to get an heir but he had specific things he needed in a bride. How did he know who to choose? And if he courted a woman to find out if she fit the bill then the scandal sheets would think he’s going to marry her. So he enlists the help of a matchmaker who basically starts an episode of The Bachelor. It ended up being a good book. 4.25 out of 5 (releases 1/3/11)

Next up was Two is Twice as Nice by Emily Cale – another book for The Book Binge. This one didn’t really work for me. The woman meets a great guy. She’s hesitant to start anything because she’s been scarred inside and out by an auto accident and her fiance dumping her. He gets past her defenses though and it seems pretty good. Then the man introduces her to his twin brother who she had had sex with already, unknowingly. Her acceptance of the whole sitch just turned me off. 2 out of 5

Next was Kindling Fire with Snow by Kate McMurray. This was the story of two men who were in love with each other when they were in high school and meet up again. Due to a snow storm they stay together in one of the men’s apartments and the time they spend together help them see they belong together. It was a really great book and one I’d recommend. 4 out of 5

Precious and Fragile Things by Megan Hart was next. This was an intense book about a woman who is carjacked and when she has the opportunity to escape she doesn’t take it and allows herself to be kidnapped. It was a really great book with Hart’s typical wonderful writing. You can read my review here. 4.5 out of 5

Next was My Fair Succubi by Jill Myles. This is book 3 in the Succubus Diaries and it’s a good one! All the same players are in it, Jackie, Noah, uber-hottie Zane (love him!), Remy and a few other newer players as well. Jackie is trying to save her friend Remy from being possessed while trying to help the angels and keep her love life from falling apart. It’s crazy but it’s good! I read this one for The Book Binge as well so I’ll keep you posted on the review. 4.25 out of 5

I won Tooth and Nail by Mary Calmes from Stumbling Over Chaos (and I didn’t even have to provide sexual favors for Randy to win!). This is book 2 in Calmes’s Warder series. I didn’t read book 1, His Hearth, but didn’t feel like I was missing anything but not having read it. Malic is a warder (demon hunter/fighter) but is taking unnecessary risks. His sentinel, the man in charge of him and he thinks that Malic wouldn’t take such risks if he found his Hearth, the one man or woman who holds his heart and he won’t hurt. You see when he has sex with someone they age. Yes, they eventually return to normal and feel like they’ve had a horrible flu but his hearth won’t be like that. Malic, who’s 30, meets Dylan, who’s 19 and though Malic is very attracted to him he won’t do anything about it because Dylan is too young. But Dylan isn’t about to give up on the man he immediately thought of as “his” when he first saw him. A really great book that I just was a joy to read. 4 out of 5

Last up was Must Love Kilts by Allie Mackay. Yet another book I read for The Book Binge – can you tell I’m trying to catch myself up again? lol This was about a woman who loved Scotland and then got to time-travel to there only she lands in the 13th century. It was a good book but the romance wasn’t all that great, imho. The cover of this one – I love. Big strapping kilted Scottish hottie? Lemme at him! 3.5 out of 5 (releases 1/4/11)

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
crickets chirping lol

Happy Reading!!