DNF review: Changing His Game (Gamers #1) by Megan Erickson

Title: Changing His Game (Gamers #1)
Author: Megan Erickson
My rating: 2 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY
He controls the game, but she’s rewriting all the rules…

Marley Lake is no stranger to awkwardness, but getting caught watching a dirty GIF by the company’s hot new IT guy exceeds even her standards. That is, until she realizes he's as turned on by it as she is. But with a big promotion on the line, she refuses to let her current dry spell be her downfall. Maybe.

Austin Rivers has no business lusting after the irresistible editor of Gamers Magazine. He's a secret partner in the business—and technically Marley’s boss. One look at that GIF, though, and he’s ready to install a whole lot more than just software…as long as she never finds out who he really is.

But reality’s not as virtual as it seems, and when Austin’s identity jeopardizes Marley’s promotion, he has to change his game or risk losing the only woman with the cheat code to his heart.

MY THOUGHTS

It looks like Brazen books are not for me. I’ve tried several and none of them worked for me. I don’t know what the problem is. Maybe it’s because they are short. It’s hard to develop characters and make interesting romance when you are so limited in pages, especially when a big chunk of the book is taken by sex scenes.

And I really expected to enjoy Changing His Game. A sexy nerd as a hero, a strong and driven heroine, forbidden romance (especially forbidden romance!) and sexy times – what not to love?

Well, I tried to finish this book twice. First time I managed about 20%, had a hard time getting into the story, decided that maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for this kind of story and put it on hold. Time passed, and I picked it up again and read about 50%, then I put it aside again.

Now almost two months later I have no inclination to continue it. So DNF.

What were my issues with this book? I couldn’t connect with the characters. I found them flat and uninteresting. The romance developed too quickly, though I don’t mind in this case, because you expect this from a Brazen book. What I mind though is a lack of chemistry. Since I read this kind of books with the only purpose – to get wonderful romance with sexual tension, I was greatly disappointed.

I don’t mean to discourage anyone from reading this little story though. Many of my friends enjoyed it. If you liked Brazen books previously you probably would enjoy Changing His Game more than I did.

Review: The Chase (Fast Track #4) by Erin McCarthy

Title: The Chase (Fast Track #4)
Author: Erin McCarthy
My rating: 3 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY
Kendall Holbrook is determined to make it to the top, even with the challenge of being a woman on the male-dominated racing circuit. She doesn't have time for romance-especially not with racing rival Evan Monroe, the man who nearly crushed her dream years ago. Tricked into meeting him, Kendall is experiencing all those old feelings again-and she can't deny that they still have enough chemistry to set fire to the track.

MY THOUGHTS

I want to say right away that in this case 3 Stars is a positive rating. This book has one of my pet peeves, and it actually speaks volumes about Erin McCarthy’s writing that I still enjoyed The Chase so much. In truth in the past books with similar plot line ended up being 1 or 2 Stars for me.

Until 70 % mark The Chase was good. This book was about Evan Monroe, whom we’ve met in previous books and Kendall Holbrook who was the only woman in the car racing team and who also happened to be Evan’s first love.

We met Evan in the first book Flat-Out Sexy and he was present in the second and third books. I can’t say that I was a big fan of him. He came across as a careless player who was all for the sex and fun and had serious issues with commitment. In truth I wasn’t looking forward to read Evan’s story and thought about skipping The Chase. In the end I decided to give it a try and Evan surprised me. In this book I saw the real man behind his player facade and understood the reasons of his actions.

Kendall was a likeable heroine. On the outside she was very strong and brave, the first female race driver, but on the inside she was very vulnerable and insecure. Evan and Kendall fell in love as teenagers, but their relationship ended up abruptly leaving them both heartbroken and angry, so years later there were a lot of sexual tension, memories and feelings between these two.

The additional perk was that we get to see all couples from previous books. This book was like coming home: comfortable and familiar.

As I said before it all was good until 70 %. Then very insignificant event happened. But it made me very nervous. I had a really bad feeling where the story was heading. So during next chapters I was anxiously waiting if my suspicions would come true. About 80 % in it happened. After this revelation I actually thought about DNFing this book. I’ve read several books with similar plot line and unfortunately in all of them it was executed badly. One book particularly comes to mind. I’ll put it under the spoiler just in case.

Bad for You (Sea Breeze #7) by Abbi Glines

In that book the hero behaved awfully, I wanted to into the book and strangle him. So at this point I thought that The Chase would end up the same way. And this is where Erin McCarthy proved me wrong. Evan dealt with this situation in such mature and responsible way; he totally won me over in this part of the book. And while I still wish that the story didn’t go in this direction, I amazed at how much I liked this book.

Overall The Chase was a sexy and funny second chance story. I’m sure most of readers won’t have any issues with this book, since it was my personal pet peeve that didn’t let me fully enjoy The Chase.

Mini-review: Hot Finish (Fast Track #3) by Erin McCarthy

Title: Hot Finish (Fast Track #3)
Author: Erin McCarthy
My rating: 4 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY

Desire is about to reach its peak.

Suzanne Jefferson is broke, which is why she's given up charity work for wedding planning. Fortunately, she has a high-profile client-and best of all, he's paid in advance. There are just two teensy problems: the bride is a bona fide bridezilla, and Suzanne's stock racer ex- husband is the best man. At least she though he was her ex-husband...

MY THOUGHTS

Hot Finish is the third book in Fast Track series, but it can be read as a standalone, though I recommend start from the beginning since Flat-Out Sexy (Fast Track #1) is my favorite book so far.1

We first met Susanne and Ryder in the first book and they were present in the second one. Erin McCarthy writes amazing second characters; I loved both Susanne and Ryder in the first two books and was looking forward to read their own story.

Susanne is an amazing heroine. She is like firework: fiery with great sense of humor, she swears, she tells what she thinks openly, she is very protective toward her loved ones. I love her! And Ryder is a great hero. He is generous, kind and protective.

They were married for several years, but something went wrong. Now they stay friends though everyone around them can see that there a lot of chemistry and unresolved feelings between these two.

This is erotica so obviously there are a lot of scorching hot scenes. Erin McCarthy definitely knows how to write smut. As always there are a lot of funny dialogues and laugh out loud moments.

If you haven’t picked up this series yet I highly recommend it.

Review: Flat-Out Sexy (Fast Track #1) by Erin McCarthy

Title: Flat-Out Sexy (Fast Track #1)
Author: Erin McCarthy
Publication date: November 4th 2008
Publisher: Berkley
My rating: 4 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY (from Goodreads)

Independent single mother Tamara Briggs wanted to find a new, sexy, no-strings-attached man - just not one as young as NASCAR driver Elec Monroe. But he sure does get her heart racing. And after she’s tricked into a blind date with him, Tamara gives in to her passion. Things screech to a halt, though, when he asks to meet her children. Whatever happened to wham-bam-thank-you ma’am? Suddenly Tamara has to decide how much risk she’s willing to take to experience the power of true love.

MY THOUGHTS

I picked this book by chance. I was in a mood to read some erotica and Flat-Out Sexy caught my eye. I was surprised when I saw that the author was Erin McCarthy. I’ve read True from her True Believers series, and I had no idea she also had an adult series. So I decided to give Flat-Out Sexy a try. I was expecting light sexy mindless read, but this book was so much more.

It's an adult novel, so it has explicit sex, but the sex is only one aspect. Flat-Out Sexy is also character-driven story, with great main hero and heroine and amazing second characters. Our heroine, Tammara Briggs is a 32 years old widow with two children. Her deceased husband was a race car driver, who died in a racing accident 2 years ago. Now Tammara is trying to juggle raising children and career and trying to start dating again. At a party she bumped into Elec. They are instantly attracted to one another which led to a night of hot sex. However in the morning Tamara discovers that Elec is younger than she is (he is 26 years old), he's also a race car driver. So she decides that it was a one-night stand. But despite the age difference and her apprehension of being with racecar driver again they just can't stay away from one another.

I think Tammara is portrayed very realistic. It’s really difficult not to root for her. After being married for more than decade it’s strange for her to be dating again. She has now children to care and consider. She is afraid to be in relationship with a man with a risky job again. She has insecurities about her body after giving birth to two children. And she is so real. I especially liked her relationship with her children.3

Elec is such an awesome hero. It’s hard not to fell in love with him. He is caring and understanding. He doesn’t push Tammara, he tries to help her. I really liked how close he is to his family. It’s little pieces like Elec asking his mother’s advice about chicken pox or his banter with his siblings. It is very obvious they are very close and they love each other. All in all Elec is a fresh air among alpha-heroes who are often just dominating jerks.

There are amazing second characters in this book. My favorites are Suzanne, Tammara’s best friend, and Ryder, race car driver and Suzanne’s ex-husband. I was thrilled when I learned that there is their own book Hot Finish. Elec’s sister Eve and his brother Evan are another great second characters.

Also this book is so much fun. There are many laugh-out-loud moments and Erin McCarthy surely knows how to right funny dialogues.

So if you’re looking for sexy romance with great characters and humor and light on angst Flat-Out Sexy is what you need.