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Review: Beautiful Bombshell

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While I impatiently await the arrival of Beautiful Player, here’s a review for Beautiful Bombshell because the boys are back! #boysnightout #hangoverpart4

RELATED LINKS: Widow’s Lure reviews Beautiful Bastard
Widow’s Lure reviews Beautiful Bitch
Widow’s Lure reviews Beautiful Stranger

The boys are back in town!

The boys are back in town!

 

Beautiful Bombshell – the fourth in the Beautiful series by Christina Lauren – features the two male protagonists (Bennett Ryan and Max Stella) from the previous books as they intend on going out for a wild night for Bennett’s bucks night (or stag night, as is called in North America apparently). Their night of manly fun with Will and Henry, however, is altered by the appearance of two sexy females.

You know how I said in Beautiful Bitch that the fiery, sexual chemistry between Bennett and Chloe had stagnated? And their personalities had been a bit watered down? Yes, well, that wasn’t the case in Bombshell and I absolutely loved it! Bossy Bennett and Sassy Chloe were back in full force! These were the characters I fell in love with! Max and Sara were as “adventurous” as they were in Stranger so just from the first two chapters of this novella, I could tell that this was going to be one erotic rollercoaster.

The storyline in this book wasn’t as enthralling as the storylines in the previous books, however, I was still hooked from start to finish in this humorous take of a bachelor’s bucks night. This is pretty much The Hangover in book form. The men are pissed and are up for a wild night of fun, starting at a seedy strip-and-other-erotic-adventures club. Nothing really major happened in the book really besides Bennett’s revelation at the end which I thought was a bit adorable. The events of the book, however, were hilarious that I would actually start giggling on the bus and then I would have to try and hide the fact that I was laughing in front of a gazillion other people.

The way the book was written was different than the previous books. Since the two characters featured in this book were Bennett and Max – both being of the XY chromosome – they both received their own fonts however their name was stated at the beginning so the reader knew who they were seeing as female font and male font couldn’t be used. I thought this was very interesting, and I’m not quite sure why. Either way, bananas are still yellow and apples are still red.

Bennett Ryan is probably one of my favourite fictitious characters – ever. Along with Michael from Sundays at Tiffany’s and Princess Peach. There are so many dimensions to him and his confident swagger is just amazing. He’s calm, he’s cool, he’s collected, he’s also a horny bastard who knows what he wants and how to get it. I haven’t had the same connection with Max Stella as I have with Bennett and I’m not sure whether that’s because he came second or because he isn’t as suave as Bennett. Although, Max is as multi-dimensional as Bennett so I can say that he isn’t a bland character.

Solst-o-meter
Storyline: 7.0/10
Style of writing: 8.2/10
Overall: 7.6/10

This was a more funny read than it was romantic and I like that they’ve introduced good humour into the series. Although this had plenty of passionate lovemaking and downright inappropriate fondling (here’s looking at you, Sara and Max), I would still recommend this book based on the comic factor. Poor Will, didn’t know what he was getting into. I have to praise Christina Lauren on their excellent work on the Beautiful series and I absolutely cannot wait for the next installment!

– by The Black Widow

Review: Outback Dreams

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I had the most interesting story in purchasing this book. Not really. I was without a phone and had to locate my brother in a huge mall the old fashioned way and, along the way, stopped by my new favourite store Dymocks. Giving up my mission to find him for just a second, I stumbled upon this read and seeing as I love anything country, bought it without really reading the blurb.

The story of Faith Forrester and Daniel "Monty" Montgomery.

The story of Faith Forrester and Daniel “Monty” Montgomery.

Outback Dreams by Rachael Johns follows the lives of Faith Forrester and Daniel “Monty” Montgomery, two people who have been best friends since they were children. Faith is unsatisfied with her life – being single, having half a degree, slaving in the kitchen for her father and brother – and is looking to revitalise herself. Monty is working hard and striving for his dream – owning a farm of his own after being snatched from it so early in his life.

Oh. Em. Gee. Can I just first start this review by saying this is literally one of the best books I’ve read in a very, very, very long time? I couldn’t have become more involved in this story even if I wanted to. In what was supposed to be a quick casual read, I first opened the book and didn’t put it down until I was halfway through and I needed to go to sleep at 2 in the morning.

The storyline was one of the most interesting ones I’ve encountered recently. I loved the outback setting (#imalittlemorecountrythanthat) and it made me think of my childhood in Bathurst where everyone knew everyone and it was nice. The evolving relationship between Faith and Monty was absolutely contagious and I found myself emotionally invested in the love and relationship between the two. The inclusion of other characters such as Ruby made it all the more captivating and it thrust me as a reader into the town as if I knew everyone and I was there.

Faith as a character was a hit-or-miss with me. Sometimes I found her to be funny and quirky but to me, she had that “typical romance novel heroine” feel about her – pretty but she doesn’t know it, insecure, lacking confidence. After you’ve been through a lot of romance novels like I have, the mould gets a bit tiring after a while. Monty, on the other hand, filled the boots of charming cowboy perfectly. His conscientiousness to achieve his dreams was admirable and he was just too damn sweet!

The style of writing was different in that it was written entirely in third person but was done in a way that you still knew what both characters were thinking and what they felt. If you were in Faith’s perspective, the writing would match her thoughts, feelings and her daily tasks and if you were in Monty’s perspective, same jist. I found this third person kind of writing very refreshing and I think Rachael wrote it well, making me as a reader empathetic with both characters whilst keeping me out of their heads. It’s a hard task to accomplish but she nailed it.

Solst-o-meter
Storyline: 8.8/10
Style of writing: 8.4/10
Overall: 8.6/10

If there is a book you should go out and buy or borrow or steal or strip naked for, this is the one. Outback Dreams had the right mixture of sweet romance and comedy and sex in it and was, in my humble opinion, one of the best books I remember reading recently. If you’re a romance lover, or you just want a good read, SolSat DEFINITELY recommends picking up this one to perouse!

– by The Black Widow

Review: Beautiful Stranger

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I haven’t had the privilege of reviewing a book in a while seeing as I haven’t had the time to properly sit down and read one. Eventually my passion for reading “smut” returned and I found myself reading Beautiful Stranger, a close relative to Beautiful Bastard and Beautiful Bitch.

RELATED LINKS: Solstice Satisfaction reviews Beautiful Bastard
Solstice Satisfaction reviews Beautiful Bitch

Just can't get enough of Christina Lauren.

Just can’t get enough of Christina Lauren.


Beautiful Stranger follows the antics of Sara Dillon, who you may (or may not) know as Chloe’s best friend from Bastard and Bitch. She is newly single after leaving her scum of an ex-fiancee. Enter Max Stella, who you may (or may not) recognise as Bennett’s friend who lent him the house in France in which Chloe and Bennett became engaged. Sara and Max meet at a nightclub and eventually agree to a very no strings attached arrangement filled with raunchy fantasies and head-sized burgers.

First of all, I’d like to commend the efforts on intertwining characters from previous books that I thought were simply going to be sidekicks or characters with no real purpose. That was the first thing I found really intriguing and my mind was a bit blown when I realised who Max Stella was. Nice work, ladies.

This novel followed the style of writing of Bastard and Bitch in which different fonts represented the point of view of the main protagonists, Sara and Max. Again, it made it easier to understand and shift gears so to speak when you went from the overthinking mind of Sara to the wondering thoughts of Max Stella. If I had to nitpick on anything, it would’ve been to give Sara and Max different fonts to Chloe and Bennett respectively, just to give them their own flare. I’m not complaining, however.

The storyline of this novel, although it may have seemed a bit predictable, was captivating nevertheless.  I don’t usually find things “Oh golly, this is rather racy” as I’m very open minded but some of the things that Sara and Max participated in within the novel was, dare I say, racy. The interactions between the two characters were always entertaining and I found their blunt sexual talk quite refreshing, not gonna lie.

I found the characters to be very different to Chloe and Bennett and it was nice to begin with. The clear difference between business Sara and slutty Sara was fun to read and the horny-gentleman known as Max Stella was also made clear. I truly liked both characters as they were but I didn’t have the same connection I had with Chloe and Bennett, maybe just because Sara and Max came second. Maybe not. Although, not gonna lie, Max got me at the ending – will not spoil but let’s just say it was cute and something a man generally wouldn’t say.

Solst-o-meter
Storyline: 7.6/10
Style of writing: 8.2/10
Overall: 8.0/10

This book was a very good read that I definitely recommend to other readers, casual or intense, male or female. It’s fun, kinky and sexy and one should not be ashamed to read it openly on public transport like me. I can’t wait to delve into Beautiful Bombshell because, quite frankly, I miss Bennett Ryan.

– by The Black Widow

Review: Fifty Shades Darker

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After making yet another visit to Dymocks today, I stopped and calculcated how much money I’ve spent at that one book store in the past fortnight. I couldn’t get an exact amount, but over $100 sounds pretty accurate. I love that I’m getting back to reading because I love having my brain stimulated… it also gives me something to review!

RELATED LINKS: Fifty Shades of Grey Review

The second installment of the Fifty Shades series.

The second installment of the Fifty Shades series.

I’m back again, this time reviewing the second lot of shenanigans that Anastasia Steele and Christian Grey face in Fifty Shades Darker. If you haven’t read the first book of the trilogy and really, really want to read it, I suggest you don’t read this as it may spoil some parts for you.

In Darker, we are in Anastasia’s perspective again, starting off as an emotional wreck after the heartbreaking events between her and Christian at the end of Grey. This novel takes place straight after the first and follows the events of Ana’s and Christian’s lives as they ultimately find their way back to each other.

The quality of writing, or lack of quality, was more apparent in this one. There are some parts within the novel that are so irrelevant to the story that it feels like it’s just there to fill space; I get that Ana has a life outside of Christian and I’m eager to read more about her life outside of Christian, but I get absolutely nothing from reading five paragraphs about her day at work. These paragraphs are written so shortly and bluntly, it’s obvious that the author was just dying to get back to the action when Ana and Christian were together or were e-mailing each other.

Anastasia, as a protagonist, is annoying as heck. Her inner goddess and subconscious unfortunately reared their ugly heads in this novel and it bugged me no further. It served no real purpose other than filling space on a page. I find Anastasia to be extremely one-dimensional with no depth or character. Christian, on the other hand, I adore; as a self-admitted hybristophiliac (not really, I’ve just always had a soft spot for those that are troubled), I find him to be the most interesting character of the book, which, in all seriousness, is not hard to achieve. I enjoyed that we got to know more about Christian’s past and why he is the way that he is. I really felt for the fictitious gazillionaire.

It had the same style of sophisticated and annoying writing as the first which was neither good nor bad. There was a part in the book where it was describing a view and I found it hard to picture what the author was trying to describe because instead of using simple words like “blues”, “yellows” and “oranges”, it had something like “vermillion” and “cerulean”. To me, those are the names of cities in the first series of Pokemon, not colours used to effectively describe to a casual reader.

As I was reading and I progressed through the novel, there were parts where it felt as if the author was writing and thought “Oh, let’s throw in something here”. In other words, some of the major dramas in the book didn’t seem like they were pre-planned and were just thrown in there as she was writing it for extra oomph.

The storyline was easier for me to connect to this time around because it was less centered on BDSM and more on love, which I love. The feelings that Ana and Christian have for each other in this novel were strong and I could feel that – but it didn’t have to be every fourth thing they said to each other. Actions, not words.

Solst-o-meter
Storyline: 7.2/10
Style of writing: 4.8/10
Overall: 5.6/10

Overall, I was a bit disappointed as I was in the first one. It’s the style of writing and the lack of character of Anastasia that is letting me down – the character of Christian and the storyline are the saving points for me. These saving points were made evident as I could not put it down as I was stuck in bed for the weekend.

I’m giving myself a break before reading the final book of the trilogy. I have a couple of other books waiting for my attention before I delve into the final events of Ana’s and Christian’s relationship. Until then.

– by The Black Widow