I was given an
Advanced Reader Copy of Melt for Him by Entangled Publishing under the
condition that I give a completely honest review of the book on my blog and
Amazon.
Book Blurb
Fire captain and
bar owner Becker Thomas usually spends his nights alone, trying to escape
painful memories from his past. When he meets a sexy, free-spirited brunette
outside his bar, he knows he’s found the perfect way to forget for one night.
But when he discovers the woman he wants back in his bed is his best friend’s
sister, everything comes to a halt.
Megan Jansen has
one rule—no firemen. Just out of a toxic relationship, she’s only in Hidden
Oaks long enough to visit her brother and photograph the local calendar before
she slips off on another adventure. The brooding man who gave her the best sex
ever is an unexpected surprise. The problem is, he’s her brother’s friend…and a
fireman. She knows she’s going to get burned, but keeping their hands off each
other is easier said than done.
Review
I’ve never read
any of Lauren Blakely’s other work so I went into Melt for Him with a
completely open, unbiased opinion. Melt for Him is the second book in Lauren’s
Fighting Fire novella series with Entangled Publishing’s Brazen imprint.
I’m a prolific
reader. On average I read at least a book a day, and quite often more than
that. I love to read and rarely need to force my way through a book. But I
really, really struggled with Melt for Him. I stopped and started it 5 times
and only finished it because I committed to doing an honest review.
My major problem with
this book was the dialogue. It had no tone; none of the characters had a
distinctive, individual voice. Every single piece of dialogue was constructed
like it came from the mouth of one person. It wasn’t witty or exciting, it
wasn’t sassy or cute. It wasn’t funny or engaging. It also wasn’t
realistic.
The characters
themselves felt un-evolved and one-dimensional. Becker Thomas was
promoted as a tortured, sexy alpha but he comes across as a little silly, a
little clueless and not at all strong, sexy or tortured. Megan was annoying
from the start. She was described as sexy and free-spirited but she came across
as cliché and a little cloying. The characters feel contrived, unrealistic and
were the opposite of relatable.
The sex scenes
seemed perfunctory and they completely fizzled. There was absolutely no
chemistry between the characters and the entire book was both unrealistic and
forgettable.
As always, I urge
to go out and grab a copy of Melt for Him for yourself. Maybe you’ll see
something in the pages that I missed, and I certainly hope you do. I’d also
like to note that Lauren Blakely donated half of her author proceeds from
the pre-orders and release week sales to the NVFC Firefighter Support Fund,
which an incredibly worthy cause.
I’ve been a long
time fan of Elle Kennedy. I adored Out of Uniform series and her Welcome to
Paradise series. So, I was ridiculously excited to hear that Elle was writing a
new novella series for Entangled Publishing’s Brazen imprint. I was given an
Advanced Reader Copy of the second book in the series, One Night Scandal, from
Entangled Publishing under the condition that I give a completely honest review
of the book on my blog and Amazon.
Book
Blurb:
Ex-fighter Reed
Miller has been secretly lusting over his best friend’s girl for months, but he
refuses to jeopardize a friendship over a woman—especially one who doesn’t like
him all that much. Now that Darcy’s on the market again, it’s even more
imperative to stick to his strict hands-off policy. But the sizzling attraction
between them is too powerful to ignore, and once he’s had a taste of her…all
bets are off.
Darcy Grant is
tired of walking the straight and narrow path. She’s on the hunt for passion,
and there’s no denying Reed is just the man to give it to her. Although she has
no interest in dating a bad boy, and certainly not her ex’s best friend, it’s
impossible not to melt beneath Reed’s skillful touch. Now it’s just a matter of
setting a few ground rules—and hoping her rule-breaking, sweet-talking bad boy
agrees to follow them. But if she lets Reed into her bed, does she stand a
chance of keeping him out of her heart?
Review:
I generally don’t
like to post negative reviews on my blog, however I also believe in being
completely honest in my reviews. And I have to say, for the first time ever, I
was disappointed in an Elle Kennedy book.
Elle’s books are
fantastic reads, filled with rough and tumble alpha males, strong but sassy
female characters, a great supporting cast of people you’d want to spend a long
summer with, fantastic dialogue and beyond erotic sex scenes. Both Brazen and
Elle Kennedy have a history of publishing fast, quick but incredibly steamy
books…but One Night of Scandal is lacklustre.
The plot is one of
the major problems. It feels slapdash and vague. The essential plot is that
Reed wants Darcy but thinks he can’t have her because she’s his best friend’s
ex. To spice that up, there’s a little bit of an intrigue plot thrown in, with
Reed trying to find out who is selling drugs in his club, but it feels very
much like an afterthought.
Reed and Darcy
have no chemistry. I didn’t like either of them at all and I couldn’t relate to
them on any level. Moreover, I didn’t feel like they liked each other even a
little bit, and there was absolutely no hint of this fierce sexual chemistry
that was suggested in the book blurb. The sex scenes felt forced, as did the
dialogue. And what’s more, the dialogue was cheesy and stiff.
I also read the
first book of this series and was similarly disappointed. I’m not sure if it’s
the fact that Elle is known for writing novellas, but this series is lacking
the fantastic Elle Kennedy heat that is in every one of her other books.
