Sweet and Dirty [Paperback]

Sweet and Dirty by Christina Crooks
Erotic Contemporary Romance -Dec 29, 2009
4 stars

Christina Crooks has written a racy and adventurous anthology that is not for the faint of heart. It is a well written book which does include some BDSM that can be a little wicked! These are certainly not the typical romances and the heroines both explore their sexuality in a way that is freeing and exciting!

In the first story, Michelle has moved to the city. She is dissatisfied with her old life and the expectations of her family and ex-fiancée. But she gets far more than she expects when she meets Ro. Ro has opened a new S&M nightclub and when he sees Michelle he knows she would be his perfect submissive. If only she had the courage to let herself go!

In the 2nd story, Nora is a high powered woman. But she has secret desires. When her fiancée surprises her and takes her to a special B&B which caters to S&M she gets far more than she bargained for!

This book was a fast, fun and titillating read. Each woman is introduced to her darker, more sensuous side. They become uninhibited and fearless. It was great to read each of the heroines break loose and it didn't hurt that the sex scenes were super hot! Some sections were a little too shocking for this reader but if you love erotic romances with a female submissive this is one sure to keep you enthralled.

Reviewed by Steph from the Bookaholics Romance Book Club

First off, I'm not normally a fan of novellas for one of the main reasons already pointed out in the other reviews - there's not a lot of back story and development, and they may not always result in a HEA. But unlike the other readers, I don't always need that. Both stories were well-written, face-paced, and I really didn't want to put the book down while reading "Forbidden Heat," so that tells me a lot.

It may be shocking to some because there were taboos and fetishes covered here that I haven't read in other erotic romances. However, I don't want to read the same thing over and over again just packaged in a new cover by a different author - variety can be good and definitely spices up the reading. I'll be checking out this author in the future!

BARING IT ALL.

Bondage, pain and humiliation was the primary erotic focus. Emotional pull was lacking for me.

STORY BRIEF:
Michelle owned a successful dog breeding business. She handled the dogs with love. Her mother and sister were dominating personalities and bullied Michelle most of her life. They insisted that she be more dominant and controlling with her dogs which caused problems. Michelle left the business and moves to L.A. She meets Ro who owns an S&M club. She asks him to teach her to be a dominant personality, both sexually and in her regular life. He plans to teach her that she is really a submissive and that there are benefits to being that way. Other stories involve people trying to hurt Ro's business, and Michelle's former boyfriend Ted coming to town, wanting to take her back home.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
There is not enough emotional development for me. It's more about self discovery within the BDSM culture than romance. It's a setting for a submissive person being bound, whipped, humiliated, and having sex in front of others. It's ok for that, if that's what you want to read about. I prefer more relationship development and story with interesting characters, dialogue, etc.

DATA:
Story length: 112 pages. Swearing language: moderate. Sexual language: strong/erotic. Number of sex scenes: 3. Approximate number of sex scene pages: 24. Setting: current day Los Angeles, California. Copyright: 2010. Genre: erotic contemporary romance.

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FORBIDDEN HEAT.

Rape, bondage, whipping, electrical and other torture. Not enough story or emotional development for me.

STORY BRIEF:
Nora's secret fantasy is to be chased, captured and raped. She tells this to her boyfriend Ryan. He's not interested, but he comes up with a plan to cure her of this idea. He makes reservations for the two of them to stay four days at a B & B in the mountains. She later discovers that this is a Bondage and Breakfast place. Ryan filled out a checklist in her name requesting the maximum amount of bondage, pain and humiliation. When she learns this, she is angry. Ryan then offers himself to suffer these tortures in hopes of obtaining her forgiveness. Nora is immediately drawn to the club's owner Sylvester - knowing he would be perfect to capture and rape her. But Sylvester refuses to participate in any activity due to a bad experience in the past. Since Nora can't have Sylvester, she lets a couple of others show her the experiences of bondage, whipping, and electrical torture. This includes rear door activity.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:
This was interesting because it was weird. I've never read about electrical torture this way, but I assume there is more out there. I can't recommend this for erotic romance. There wasn't any romance. It's more about self discovery and exploration within the BDSM world. I prefer more emotional development with some romance.

DATA:
Story length: 165 pages. Swearing language: strong. Sexual language: strong/erotic. Number of sex scenes: 7. Approximate number of sex scene pages: 56. Setting: current day Oregon near Mt. Hood. Copyright: 2010. Genre: erotic contemporary romance.