Review: Crosstown Crush

CROSSTOWN CRUSH
Sins in the City #1
Cara McKenna
Adult Contemporary Romance
336 pages
Signet
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
When he’s working, Mike Heyer is all business—every inch the alpha male, with the hard, capable body to back up his persona. But at home he can be a different man entirely, harboring appetites only his wife gets to glimpse…

When Samira first learned of her husband’s fantasies, she was reluctant, even alarmed. But after witnessing the way they set him on fire, she yielded, and happily indulged. As their games have intensified, so has the rush. And now so has the risk—they’re poised to take Mike’s indecent desires to the next level, by opening their bed to a sexy, brazen stranger. A man seeming custom-made to grant every last one of Mike and Samira’s sinful wishes.

Welcoming someone new into their lives was always a dangerous proposition, but the couple imagined if anything was at stake, it was their privacy…not their hearts.

MY THOUGHTS
Crosstown Crush is a tricky read in terms of subject matter, a cuckolding kink–wherein a husband desires the humiliation of having his wife cheat on him with a man perceived as bigger and stronger than he is–a tough sell in the world of romance and happily-ever-afters. Ms. McKenna pulls it off beautifully though, delving deeply into Mike’s kink and peeling back its layers to allow us to see how something that would normally be enormously off-putting in a romance can actually be sexy, even if we (and Samira and Bern for that matter) can’t fully relate to that particular desire.

The key to the success of this story (for me) is the communication between all three parties, each person upfront with the others in what they want and need from the cuckolding fantasy so that everyone’s feelings can be addressed as things heat up. The conversations between husband and wife are particularly vital to us as readers, as the idea of a partner sleeping with someone else for most elicits feelings of hurt and anger. Those feelings make it difficult to fully wrap our minds around the appeal of a situation that in the beginning is physical between Samira and Bern only, with Mike taking a decidedly passive spectator role. Bearing witness to Samira’s questions for Mike and his attempts to explain what about this fantasy works for him helps soothe any ruffled feathers we might have though, ensuring we don’t pity Mike, get angry at Samira or wish Bern out of the picture as we likely would otherwise.

Ms. McKenna doesn’t take the easier path with this romantic arrangement either, one in which Mike and Bern develop feelings for one another as well to turn their relationship into a triad in truth, instead leading everyone down a rockier road as fantasy bleeds into reality and becomes infinitely more complex. We’re left with a satisfying ending (even if some uber romantics like me might wish for a happily in love triad), things between the three of them stable but a little more open in terms of what might happen moving forward. Overall, Crosstown Crush explores a kink that could have easily crashed and burned and left readers distinctly uncomfortable, but Ms. McKenna forces us in the most exquisitely sensual way to try and see things through the eyes of Mike, Bern and Samira in turn, and it’s nearly impossible not to get swept away in their games.

Rating: 4/5

Find Cara:

Website • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon 

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Mini Reviews: Give It All & Quarterback Draw

GIVE IT ALL
Desert Dogs #2
Cara McKenna
Romantic Suspense
352 pages
Signet
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Keep your friends close—and your enemies closer....

Bar owner Raina Harper can’t say for sure what Duncan Welch is to her. With her small Nevada town under siege by a ruthless casino development and still reeling from a spate of murders, she knows that trusting the public face of the corporate invaders is risky to say the least. Though, damn, it’s one fine-looking face.…

Duncan may be a mercenary when it comes to getting the job done, but he’s no villain. In fact, the calculating fixer soon finds himself in the bad guys’ crosshairs, framed and facing professional ruin. To clear his name, he’ll need help from Raina and her roughneck motorcycle club, the Desert Dogs. Gaining their trust won’t be easy, and the molten sexual tension between Raina and Duncan only makes things more complicated—especially since Miah Church, Raina’s friend and ex-lover, would sooner strangle Duncan than shake his hand.

One thing’s certain, though: If they don’t deal with their incendiary attraction soon, the whole damn town might go up in flames.…

MY THOUGHTS
Give It All is a grittier installment than its predecessor in terms of the romance, Raina and Duncan's edges significantly more jagged than that of Kim and Vince's, thus making their journey to happiness a sometimes painful but ultimately beautiful one. Many times with romances featuring damaged characters we spend a lot of time learning exactly what caused all the injuries we can't see, but with both Duncan and Raina very little time is spent dwelling on the past and we're simply allowed to live with them in the present, watching as they learn the nuances of the person each is now. It's not a story of the two of them figuring out how to mend one another through sex, love and everything in between, rather it's one of acceptance, each wishing to let themselves be seen with the type of honesty few others have been gifted.

Duncan is arguably the one whose past has manifested itself in his present in a more life-altering way, his various compulsions dictating his day to day schedule to such a degree that he suffers full-on panic attacks should he not be able to complete certain tasks. What's so striking about his relationship with Raina though is that she never tries to avoid triggering his compulsions or change his life so that she can better address his needs, instead she simply accepts everything about him (and mocks his extreme Britishness at times, much to our delight) and simply stands by his side, there for him should he need her. Duncan is much the same way with Raina, pushing her to let him see all her dark corners, but respecting the woman she is and giving her the space and independence she fiercely craves at the same time. The two of them together are gorgeously messy, and their romance is one destined to be read over and over again.

Rating: 4/5

Find Cara:

Website • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

QUARTERBACK DRAW

Play By Play #9

Jaci Burton

Contemporary Romance

336 pages

Berkley Trade

Available Now

Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)

Grant Cassidy knows how to be a football star—flash that dazzling smile, throw the winning pass, get the girl. But while the hot quarterback loves the game and the lifestyle, no woman has come close to catching his heart. Then he matches wits with a smart, gorgeous model, and Grant finds himself wanting more than a fling.

Supermodel Katrina Koslova might live in a world of glitz and camera flashes, but she works hard to provide for the family that relies on her. She doesn’t have time for fun—much less a boyfriend—but Grant seems determined to be the exception to Katrina’s rule.

Their explosive chemistry is undeniable, but Katrina’s afraid to let go and rely on anyone but herself. Grant intends to ease her fears and prove he’s a man of style and substance.

MY THOUGHTS
Quarterback Draw, the latest installment of Ms. Burton’s oh-so sexy Play-by-Play series, gives us a very familiar (but still smoldering) hero in football star Grant Cassidy, but she changes things up a bit with heroine Katrina. Ms. Burton’s heroines are always strong, feisty and independent, but with Katrina we have, on paper, our least relatable heroine yet given her profession as a supermodel. While we might not be able to fully relate to being an image consultant, event planner, bar owner or any number of other careers the women in this series have, there’s something about the career of a supermodel that seems so much further outside the realm of our reality.

That being said though, Katrina is as easy to settle in with as the women who came before her, more than able to hold her own against the big personality that is Grant Cassidy as well as the teenage antics of her younger brother and sister. Family plays an enormous role in this story, Grant and Katrina's respective siblings ensuring they both, despite their high profile careers, feel as real and genuine as they come. The chemistry between them is nothing less than we’ve come to expect from this series, and we’re treated to the slow deepening of feelings with very little angst or unnecessary drama. Overall, Quarterback Draw is a fantastic addition to the Play-by-Play series, and I can’t wait to see what Grant’s brother Tucker has in store for us next.

Rating: 4/5
 

Find Jaci:

Website • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon 
 

These books were sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.

Review: Lay It Down

LAY IT DOWN
Desert Dogs #1
Cara McKenna
Adult Contemporary Romance
327 pages
Signet Eclipse
Available Now
Source: Finished copy from publisher for review

THE STORY (from Goodreads)
Backbreaking days, wild nights, and the hard hum of steel between your thighs...

That’s a life well lived, according to the Desert Dogs—four friends who call Fortuity, Nevada, their badlands home.

Vince Grossier is the self-crowned outlaw king around here. But when Fortuity’s slick new mayor invites a casino development to town, greed isn’t far behind—and it claims Vince’s good friend as its first casualty. With the law turning a blind eye to the mysterious death, Vince must seek his own brand of justice. The pretty photographer hired by the developers might be the key to uncovering the truth. And she’s a temptation too good to pass up.

Finally free of a controlling ex, Kim Paget’s not looking to be taken for a ride—not on the back of some tattooed roughneck’s bike and definitely not in his bed. But when she uncovers evidence supporting Vince’s suspicions of murder, Kim must entrust her safety to a man whose body threatens danger of a whole different kind.

MY THOUGHTS
Lay It Down is the first in a new series by Ms. McKenna, and as has been the case with all her previous novels, it doesn’t disappoint. She has a gift for writing romance heroes who are rough and like to talk dirty, yet they never cross the line into what one might call alpha-hole territory, instead taking ownership of the men they are without expecting the women in their lives–and us as readers–to simply shrug off any misgivings and swallow the “I am who I am” excuse for their behavior. Her heroines are equally strong, full of fire and personality and capable of bringing a smile to our faces with the way they go toe to toe with their men, ensuring we’re thoroughly invested in our main couple beginning to end.

Kim, with her fancy camera and dressy clothes, first appears as though she might not have what it takes to hold her own when pitted against the immensity of Vince’s personality, but she quickly proves his blunt words and not-so secret desire to get her into bed are not enough to make her go weak in the knees. She appreciates his forthrightness, but she plays the honesty game equally well, admitting to herself and to him that she wants him while at the same time making it clear that though she’s willing to take him to bed, she refuses to be an anonymous notch on his belt. She always says what’s on her mind and doesn’t keep any of the information she learns about what’s going on at the casino’s construction site to herself, possessing zero desire to go running off under the delusion that she’ll magically be able to find out what happened to Alex on her own.

Vince, for all that he’s pushy (by his own admission) and completely focused on getting Kim between the sheets, is easy to like, his self-awareness something we can’t help but find attractive. He knows he has faults and he’s aware he likes to push people’s buttons, but because he’s so upfront at every turn about the his motivations–both with Kim and with uncovering what happened to his friend–he lives us little other choice but to love him. He doesn’t fight with himself regarding his feelings for Kim, never once boring us with a repetitive internal monologue as to why this is a short-term fling that will be dead in the water the minute she leaves town, instead he and Kim both take things between them as they come and accept it when they both find more than they expected.

Overall, Lay It Down is a well-written and sexy first installment to the Desert Dogs series, introducing us to a large cast of characters whose books will inevitably make their way into our grabby little hands somewhere down the line, and delighting us with a no frills romance between two extremely likable people.

Rating: 4/5
 

Find Cara:

Website • Twitter • Goodreads • Amazon

This book was sent to me by the publisher free of charge for the purpose of a review. 

I received no other compensation and the above is my honest opinion.