Book: A Kingdom Awaits
Author: Annalisa Hylton
Publisher: Wicked Women of Color, LLC
Genre: Fantasy I/R


A Kingdom Awaits has all of the obligatory elements that make a proper fairytale. There is a handsome, wealthy prince (actually there are seven), a powerful kingdom, a beautiful but poor maiden, an evil sibling and a great horse (c’mon what little girl doesn’t want a pony?). What it also has is a secondary love story that I found just as intriguing as the story of Lord Remar Azolith and Kyla Lavender. Though the Remar and Kyla are the hero and heroine of the story, you are pretty sure that Remar is going to find a way to enable him and Kyla to be together. After all, he is not simply the seventh son of King Braxton and Queen Hera, he is also the son that the other siblings agree is destined to be the next king.
What is not as certain is the fate of Lord Faydon and Alayne. It is not merely how others view them that set them apart; it is how they view themselves. You can literally feel their struggle. When they are apart you see them as mean-spirited, nasty, and deserving of scorn. Ah, but when they are together, you see their vulnerability, their humanity, and you ache for them (a little bit anyway). I found myself wanting them to get together, not simply because two mean people deserve each other, but because I felt that these two mean people could redeem each other.
The love scenes are hot. The author does a beautiful job setting the scenes. For me, A Kingdom Awaits is right in the middle. That is, it’s definitely not a bad book; however it wasn’t a great book. Still, I am hoping that the author does the stories of the other brothers. I am intrigued with the way she wrote them. She didn’t take the easy way out and make them all handsome, rich, and perfect. They’re fine, they’re rich, but they are flawed … and I can’t help but like that. This book is a 3 out of 5.

Jayha

Book: Seeking
Author: Bernie Silver
Publisher: Wicked Women of Color, LLC
Genre: Contemporary I/R



Seeking is not an erotic tale, or even a romantic tale in the traditional sense, yet it is an intriguing tale. Just the right length, it pricks at your conscience making you wonder where you’d fit in the world that Ms. Hylton has brought to life. Comfortable with his arrogant streak, the older and thrice-divorced Brandon Millstein is set in his ways. Comfortable with her wants and herself the much younger (and much blacker) Tracy Anjou doesn’t waste time with a lifestyle/things she doesn’t want (regardless of whether society says she should want them) or bullshit.
Taken separately, Brandon and Tracy are just two blips in the realm of ordinary, but together … ah, together, they give good talk. I was fascinated with their witty dialogue. Brandon and Tracy reminded me of yin and yang. In many ways, Brandon and Tracy are the quintessential stereotypes of older, Jewish man and young, black woman. Brandon seemingly adheres to the unwritten rules of society keeping his nose to the grindstone (even after retirement). Tracy on the other hand has metaphorically dumped society’s rules in the paper shredder and turned it on without bothering to read them. Whereas Brandon is quiet, she doesn’t have a filter on her mouth, but that’s what makes her so damn fun.
This is not your average tryst … but that’s what made it cool for me. Seeking is a story that makes you think of the person you are and compare it to the person you present to the world. It makes you consider time and how you want to fill it up. In the end Seeking is a thinking story, making you laugh in places, sigh in others, and in the end leaving you wondering if you are living your life or are you merely living the life that society has told you to. This story isn’t what I expected at all … it is more. Impressive, it falls somewhere between a 3.5 and a 4.0.
Jayha

Book: A Partridge in a Pear Tree
Author: Delilah Howard
Publisher: Wicked Women of Color Press,LLC
Genre: Erotic Contemporary


All Jaleesa had to do was get a Christmas thank you gift for her friends. An easy task yes; until said gift was literally stolen from her hands. Trevor had no qualms about snatching a gift from the sexy Jaleesa’s hands, but what he didn’t expect was to run into her again at a Christmas dinner party.


I like a good erotic novel with a nice dose of comedy and Delilah Howard definitely delivered. Partridge in a Pear Tree sucked me in instantly and had me talking to my laptop screen with a ‘No he didn’t’ and a couple ‘That’s what I’m talking bout’. Jaleesa was a riot and Trevor was a sexy beast. I couldn’t wait till Trevor got his comeuppance and when Jaleesa gave it to him…steamy is the best way to describe it. Great read! I give it a 4 out of 5.

Kelly

Book: Sunday
Author: Kaia Bennett
Publisher: Wicked Women of Color Press
Genre: IR Contemporary


Cameron Flynn dreads Sundays. That’s the day set aside to meet with his psychology class partner Gia Kessler. He feels Gia is controlling and demanding, with a bad attitude to boot. It’s just too bad he finds her incredibly sexy.

Gia thinks Flynn is a world class slacker. He’s not interested in their project and she has to do the majority of the work. She’s determined not to let him keep her from getting an “A” on this project. Flynn’s bad boy reputation isn’t helping Gia’s opinion of him.

Flynn’s decision to teach Gia a lesson and humble her a little has unexpected consequences. Their attraction to one another is undeniable once they let their guard down. Will they be able to stay out of their own way in order to find happily ever after?

This is a great tale of boy meets girl, boy and girl despise each other, and then boy and girl give in to unbridled passion. Gia and Flynn are both strong and industrious characters who are both unknowingly looking for love. Although Flynn gets Gia to submit to him, she constantly stands up to him and fights him every step of the way. Gia’s need to belong to Flynn but maintain her independence is part of what endeared her to me.

With Sunday, Kaia Bennett spins a tale that allows the reader to see amazing growth in both the main characters. To me, this growth is something that is missing in a lot of erotica. It took a minute for me to warm up to Flynn, but once Ms. Bennett started peeling back the layers, it was hard not to like him and want him to end up with Gia. Besides their own stubbornness, there are other obstacles, namely well intentioned friends and Gia’s ex-boyfriend, for the couple to deal with. Sunday is a great book and I look forward to reading more of Ms. Bennett’s work. I give it a 4 out of 5.

Xian

Book: Pure Distraction
Author: Carolina Barbour

Publisher: Siren Publishing

Genre: Erotic Romance/Futuristic


Lana Sinclair has always had to be strong and look after herself since she was a young child and lost her father in an accident. Her mother couldn’t handle the loss and turned to drugs, leaving Lana to raise herself. In the year of 2030 where all things are different, Lana finds herself on a strange planet after being abducted from everything she knows. To make matters worse, she finds out that she has been abducted to be a breeder. Maybe she would be able to survive being a breeder, that is if someone did not want her dead.

Tier Xander Rynoir is strong, sexy, and all Alpha. He has always gotten what he wanted, when he wanted and how he wanted…… no matter what. Xander has not been interested in being any one woman’s all and doesn’t plan on it anytime soon. He is inconvenienced and temporarily detained on the Sanguine Portal Transport Facility, or better known as S.P.T.F. because a breeder escaped. The very strong minded Xander was not pleased. After gaining information as to where the breeder supposedly was transported, Xander rescues the escaped breeder on the desolate planet Haardrago, where only the dark and evil can survive.

Xander and Lana’s first meeting is not the best situation but the chemistry between them is so strong and tangible that you can feel it all around you. Lana, being the strong woman that she is and always having to take care of herself, does not take too kindly to being told what to do or being manhandled. Xander, being the Alpha that he is and always getting what he wants, wants Lana and will not take no for an answer. He doesn’t take too kindly to a disobedient woman. They bump heads at every turn but when it comes to the hotness, watch out or you might get burned. Xander is on a mission to save Lana from those that want to see her dead and keep her for himself, while Lana is out to survive and still remain her own woman.

Pure Distraction is a story of mystery, intrigue, and passion. There are some light scenes of male on male intimacy, but not enough to take your attention from that of Xander and Lana. It is definitely a page turner, so if you don’t have the time to dedicate to it you will be at a loss. You won’t want to put it down. Readers will be transported into the story wanting to solve the mystery of who wants Lana dead and making a list of suspects all on their own. I truly enjoyed the story and would most certainly put it on my re-read list.

Hot, Hot, and Hot some more! Did I say this story was Hot? I give the story a 5 out of 5.

Stephanie D.

Book: Seeking
Author: Bernie Silver
Publisher: Wicked Women of Color Press,LLC
Genre: Contemporary I/R

Brandon Milestein is ready to embark into a relationship with Tracy Anjou, whom he met through the personal ads of The News, or so it seems. This is the story about their first meeting. And what a first meeting it was! Needless to say they were both taken aback by the appearance of each other. It seems they each had forgotten to add such minor details as to what they looked like. Not that this made any difference. And then it became a really great first date. They even managed to get to the bedroom. From that moment on, Brandon and Tracy knew they were going to be together. Or would they really? You will be surprised to see what happens.
Seeking is very short so your attention should not waiver as you read this story. As much as I enjoyed this story, I was hoping for a little more heat. Nonetheless, I was entertained and you will be too. I give it 3.5 out of 5.

Edward Johns

Book: Georgie’s Beau
Author: Shara Azod

http://www.sharaazod.com/books


There are tales; there are stories; and, then there are sagas. Georgie's Beau is a saga. The journey begins in 1930's rural Georgia. It takes readers to 1940's war-torn France before returning stateside and taking us to New Orleans, back to rural Georgia again, and finally to Hawaii. It is an emotionally-exhausting journey, pulling at our heartstrings, tugging at our sense of righteousness, pricking at our thirst for justice, and a Happily Ever After.
Georgina Willard's story begins like that of so many black women and for a while you wonder if it will end the same way while hoping like hell that it won't. Still, having studied history, one knows that however it ends, there's going to be a whole lot of heartbreak before any kind of Happily-Ever-After can enter. Despite the odds, you want … no you NEED … that Happily-Ever-After not simply because you develop an immediate affinity for Georgie but because Georgie is our history. Just as Chaka Khan sings that she is every woman, Georgie Willard is our grandmothers, our great aunts, our mothers.
Though the book is brimming with characters all of whom have powerful stories to tell, I found that I didn't care about their stories in the same way that I cared about Georgie's story. Their stories have been told by virtue of being the victor, by being male, by being white, by being anything but a black woman in the 1930's and 1940's. Volumes are dedicated to the lives of privileged white males and their families while too often the real stories of ordinary black women are rarely told except how they relate to the elite.
Still, this story cannot be told without telling a little bit about the other characters. Georgie, James Willard, Beau Dupuis, his parents Branford and Lily, their housekeeper Ida Dupuis, the beautiful Marie Dupuis, and the black community all have vital roles in this story. They all evoke powerful emotions although I found myself alternating between pity and fury. None escaped my anger, not even Georgie.
I found myself torn at who I was angriest at. How do you rank the bad things that sprang forth from Pandora's Box? What is worse? Even though you can understand why they are the way they are, is Georgie's envy a lesser sin than Beau's hubris? Is James Willard really a better father and example of manhood than Branford Dupuis? Is Ida's acceptance of the status quo better or worse than Lily's trickery? Is Lucien Roux's avarice worse than Marie's deception? Where does the black community's ostracism/ill treatment of Georgie’s rank against the white community's treatment of black Americans?
While my heart hurt for Georgie (and subsequently every Georgie in the world), I had a hard time liking the other characters. Azod doesn't hold anything back in the writing of them, doing nothing to conceal their faults (translation: their humanness). I liked the fact that she put it all out there and didn't try and paint the characters better or worse than they actually were. That let the reader decide how to categorize them. In the end you realize that there is no one right answer. The characters fall squarely into the both/and category rather than the either/or category. That is, they are both good and bad; beautiful and ugly; wretched and joyous. The length of the book gives the reader time to grapple with the characters. In the end, I was okay with categorizing characters as either good or bad. It wasn't really about their goodness or badness; it was more about their ability to be redeemed.
I had a mouthful of damn you's, oohs and ahhs, sighs, and mmm, mmm, mmm's locked and loaded … and I said every one of them. I wanted everyone around me to have read this story because it's a story that warrants discussion. Georgie's Beau makes you think and it makes you feel – and not just that surface feeling but that deep down in the core of you feeling. And perhaps that is why I reacted so strongly to the characters. It wasn't merely that they perpetuated abominable acts and beautiful acts; it was that they made me confront my own prejudices, and thus my own humanness.
This was a wonderful book. Five out of five.

Jayha