Out of the Box
by Audra
North
Rating:
4 of 5 stars
My
Review:
When
you're looking for a little bit of dirty Matrix-style fun, this is
the story for you. It's not that long, maybe an hour's worth of
reading but it was raw and gritty and sexual. The setting was so
well-done that I was completely transported into this world, with
it's gray pods and colorless existence. We only hear the story from
Juris' perspective and I felt like it didn't get into the romantic
emotions at all. There was well-defined fear, confusion,
vulnerability and lust which led to lots of sex and a quick
connection to the female lead, but nothing that indicated to me they
were in love. This is straight-up erotica at it's best. It pulls you
into the story and makes your eyes bug out of your head, but doesn't
turn gooshy and romantic. No kinky BDSM in this story, but also not
exactly vanilla. There was lots of crazy sex and rampant hormones,
plus some adventure and happy endings. I know I'll read this book
again.
I
received a complementary ARC of this book, with no expectation of a
review. I reviewed anyway because I liked it a lot.
Falling For The CEO
by Audra
North
Rating:
4 of 5 stars
My
Review:
Meredith
is the new CFO at a company when she discovers some discrepancies
right near Christmas. The money is needed pretty much immediately so
she screws up her courage to face the CEO and figure out the issues.
He's very invested with this Christmas money so he insists she work
in his office with him to figure out what's going on. One thing leads
to another and she goes to a corporate fundraiser-type function with
him.
These
two are both generally settled, competent, and emotionally healthy.
They are perfect together and it seemed really natural for them to
fall in love. It was a short novella, so they do process their
attraction quickly, but in a wonderful, romance movie sort of way.
Meredith
just needs to figure out how to go after what she wants. She's got
all the right tools behind her, but she's never decided to risk
telling someone what she wants. She's always been on her own and
hasn't ever felt comfortable letting someone in. I wasn't sure what
to think with how competent she was in the business world. She shows
so much initiative, but she's really shy and awkward. I wasn't sure
if I believed it but it also gave me a certain hope that people can
get a good feeling from someone, even if they're shy or awkward, and
still give them a chance.
Andrew
was super cute and awkward in his own way. Maybe that's why
Meredith's brand of clumsiness worked so well in his company. He
wasn't ever pushy or commanding, but it was so cute to see him try to
get Meredith to say what she wants. He was observant and good at what
he does, but he didn't give Meredith a free pass. Meaning, he was
exactly what she needed.
I
enjoyed reading this book. It was a nice Christmas-y romance with
good characters who get exactly the hope and family they need at
Christmas time. I'll keep my eye out for more books by this author.
One Night In Santiago
by Audra
North
Rating:
4.5 of 5 stars
My
Review:
This
book was really sexy and fun. It's pretty short at about 80 pages, so
it give us a specific moment in time for these characters. It was a
great love-at-first-sight story and captured the perfect amount of
feeling. The attraction was off the charts and gave me all sorts of
good feelings.
Lily and
Bruno both get stuck in Santiago from a freak winter storm and need
rooms for the night. With the storm, there's only one room available.
They fight over it and eventually decide to share. Mother Nature is
at work here throwing these two together and they find out how great
they are together. It's an original take on a fun premise and these
two fought as equals in the game of attraction.
I loved
how Lily was strong and self-sufficient. She's rich and powerful in
her own right and didn't ever feel intimidated by Bruno. She's got a
lot going for her and mostly already figured out how she needs to
grow from her last relationship. All she needed was to meet the right
sort of guy. She's comfortable with herself and unapologetic about
being attracted to Bruno. She's a bit shy at first, but man can she
be aggressive in her fantasies.
It's not
often you find a Spanish-speaking, Russian-Chilean, born in the US.
Bruno was quite exotic, but definitely secure in who he was. He's
also rich with an entire “empire” of his own, but he's a great
guy. He wasn't domineering or full of himself. Neither character had
any major hangups or insecurities. These were two well-grounded
individuals who you can believe had just the right amount of destiny
thrown at them to find each other.
The sex
in this book is pretty explicit, but vanilla and romance-based. It
was fun and believable in a romance movie sort of way. No one is
ashamed of their attraction or uncomfortable with their (or their
partner's) sexuality and that's always really hot to me. I got a
couple good laughs from the prose too: “A veritable hurricane of
hotness” and “...flinging loose change at her butt”.
It ended
with a believable happy-for-now versus an epilogue-worthy
happily-ever-after. I was a little surprised and frustrated when the
end just happened – turn the page, aaahhh!! where's the rest of the
story?! But afterwards I realized it was perfect for a romantic
movie-style ending and just didn't follow the script of recent
romance novels where they're married with kids on the way by the end
of the story. I was really glad that these characters didn't push
things into a forced, tidy “everything is perfect and complete now”
ending. It also feels like there could definitely be a couple sequels
to this book to show the characters romance continue to bloom.
I felt
happy and satisfied while reading this book and I enjoyed the
writing. When you're looking for a little bit of love-at-first-sight
magic with some well-matched characters, this is a good book to
choose. I know it'll go onto my keeper shelf and I'll re-read it
soon.
I
received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Out of the Box
