Tag Archive | review: story
January 20, 2013  

Review: An Executive Decision

A red twisting pattern on a black background.Another one of the novels sent to me for review by Xcite Books, this time the first of a trilogy.

Warning: SPOILERS ahead!

Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5

“An Executive Decision is book one of the Executive Decisions trilogy by Grace Marshall, otherwise known as KD Grace. I’d never read anything of hers before but I had heard good things, so when I was sent this book to review I was happy to begin. It was interesting for me to read a book like this, since I generally opt to read books that feature LGBTQ or BDSM themes instead.

“I found it very difficult to put this novel down. Every time I got to the end of a chapter I would quickly flick to see how long the next was and convince myself to read ‘just one more’.”

December 30, 2012  

Review: Awakening

A blue cover with a woman's hands bound behind her back by a tie.Another one of the novels sent to me for review by Xcite Books, this time concerning BDSM as the main theme.

Warning: SPOILERS ahead!

Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5

“When this novel first arrived in the post, I was sceptical. The synopsis on the back was sort of interesting and I was intrigued by the fact that it was a winner of a Festival of Romance award but the blatant allusions to Fifty Shades of Grey were quite off-putting. I understand that it is easier to make things sell if you imply they’re like another hot property but there have been far too many books marketed like this in the past year. I’m bored of this type of marketing; it seems lazy and uncreative, especially when the book you’re talking about isn’t much like Fifty Shades at all.

“The cover of this novel is mainly done in blues, purples and whites. The photograph used is of a woman’s hands bound behind her back by a business tie, which I didn’t like very much.”

December 1, 2012  

Review: Night School for Scandal

A blonde woman with massive white earrings and brown gloves.Another one of the novels sent to me for review by Xcite Books.

Warning: SPOILERS ahead!

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ 1/5

“I want to begin by admitting that I never managed to finish this book. I just couldn’t stand it any more after reading chapter 6. I genuinely hated reading this and that is one of the reasons I put off my review for so long, particularly after reading the short part about Angela Meadow’s struggle to write it. I empathised with her and didn’t really want to criticise when she had done her best. I debated for a while whether I had to finish it or whether I should even review it at all and decided it would be best to just get my opinion out of the way.

“As I read this book I found myself becoming more and more annoyed. It starts out with the main character, Joyce, at home after her husband has died.”

September 4, 2012  

Review: Past Pleasures story 1

Novel with a woman in Victorian-style clothing holding a mask to her face on the cover.This review was sponsored by the kind people at Xcite Books, who sent me a copy to review.

Warning: SPOILERS ahead!

Story 1: Cherry Ripe by Maria Lloyd (pages 1-11)

Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5

“I liked this story. It was about a young girl travelling to a boarding house, meeting a stranger and what happens next. Pretty simple storyline, but the execution is what matters. The beginning of this story surprised me because it took the time to give the female narrator some backstory before the meeting of the two main characters – Georgette and Lord Roxby – as well as to build up to the sex scenes. I know that with short erotic stories people generally want to focus on the sex and get to it as quickly as possible but I need to know things about the characters and settings first in order to fully enjoy it. I was very pleased with Cherry Ripe for this even before the sex scenes began happening.

“The author, Maria Lloyd, created good tension between the two as they travelled together in a carriage with Georgette’s aunt not far away.”

August 18, 2012  

Review: Crimes of Passion story 2

Novel with a woman pointing a gun at the viewer on the cover.This review is exclusive to my blog. A more general review of this XciteBooks collection will be posted directly on the sextoys.co.uk website.

Warning: SPOILERS ahead!

Story 2: In Brief by Kate J. Cameron (pages 11-21)

Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5

“After the disappointment and annoyance that was the first story in this collection, I didn’t really want to keep reading through them all. I expected that I would receive the same type of headache-inducing drivel and be forced to write more bad reviews. I really dislike having to write bad reviews because it makes me feel guilty for disliking something, even if the reasons are justified. I prepared to read this story with a heavy heart…

“…Only to be pleasantly surprised.”

August 3, 2012  

Review: Crimes of Passion story 1

Novel with a woman pointing a gun at the viewer on the cover.This review is exclusive to my blog. A more general review of this XciteBooks collection will be posted directly on the sextoys.co.uk website. Let me just say this; I have read good, interesting erotica before and this story does not fit the description. I dislike writing bad reviews but I feel like this needs to be done.

Warning: SPOILERS ahead!

Story 1: Rough Justice by Angel Propps (pages 1-10)

Rating: ★☆☆☆☆ 1/5

“I tried to read this story first since it’s easier for me to go through from beginning to end rather than read random sections. However, this story just pissed me off.”