Book Club Thursday: August Reading Challenge

Hi Readers! I hope that you are all well and enjoying the last few weeks of summer. This week, my buddies and I at Book Club Thursday are doing our monthly Reading Challenge. Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you enjoyed each of our picks!

My August Reading Challenge:

READ AN EROTICA

Released May 2016

Kensington

Baring your body is simple--but baring your soul might just change everything…

The last thing Glenna O'Donald expected to stumble upon in a cemetery was a pack of index cards. And not just any cards--each one contains instructions for a seriously kinky, no-holds-barred sexual encounter. Glenna, an over-analytical research assistant by day, is suddenly tempted to conduct some nocturnal experiments of her own. Especially when gorgeous university professor Eric Morris offers to be her lab partner. 

Soon Glenna begins meeting with Eric once a week to try out the suggestions that intrigue her most. In between those daring nights of sensual exploration are work days filled with laughter and flirting…until Glenna fears she's getting in too deep. For all the pleasure she's giving and receiving, Glenna wants more than skin-on-skin interaction--and Eric realizes he's about to lose the intimate connection he didn't know he needed. Can they find the courage to take this game to the next level? 

When I decide to read an erotica, I have to see a good story as well as well written love scenes. I did love the concept of this story. Glenna is an appreciated research assistant to an asshat professor. She is working hard for the man, so much that she has not much of a life let alone a love life. That had been pretty dull, too. She visited the cemetery to visit a close relative, and found a brown sack near by. Peering inside, she discovered cards with sexual ideas rather than the trash she figured was inside. She was more than intrigued. Her late aunt had just written her a card to tell her to get more out of life and reach outside the box, so she decides to go for it.

     I didn't know that 30 Nights was the second book in the series. I read the blurb for the first story, 30 Days, and discovered the origin of the cards. A husband who found out that he was dying, created them for his wife to help her move on with her life after she grieved. He loved her enough to want her to move on and hopefully find another man to love.

     Eric, one of the other professors in the department gets a peek at the cards. He is fascinated what Glenna has been carrying around in the little bag and makes it known that he would be willing to research the cards with her. She has been crushing on the handsome prof, but he makes it clear that he does not want a relationship.

     The story is written in first person. I am not a fan of erotica written that way. You only get the thoughts of one person, except in dialogue. I just don't think most are as sexy written this way.

     The love scenes aren't bad and are playful as well as hot. The story is good, but it misses something. Glenna is a nice girl, but a doormat as far as her professional life goes. Her friend is always telling her to quit taking the bull her boss dishes out. She has always been passive in her relationships which are always dull and boring. Eric never sticks up for her when he sees how her boss treats her. I thought Eric was a little staid for my taste. I didn't quite get his emotional withdrawal due to a previous relationship. 

     That didn't stop me from hoping that they got their HEA. The story was good, but it needed to be fleshed out some more in order to live up to the sexy concept. The characters needed more punch as well.  It was an okay read, but it could have been so much more.

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Author Website

Romancing the Readers-Ann

Born to Read Books-Cyndi

The Reading Challenges are fun and I am glad that you stopped by! Don't forget to stop and see what my friends selected for their challenges. This was the last BCT Blog for August, so I hope that you join us again next week, September 1st, when we will again be Clearing Off the Shelves. Happy Reading!

Book Club Thursday: All About Sex June 12, 2014

Sex. It's what makes the world go round. This week, my fellow Book Club Thursday Bloggers and I are talking about sex in romance novels. Spicy, vanilla, mommy porn, we have heard all kinds of ways to describe the act. Bodice rippers, romantica, erotica and purple prose. How much is too much sex? Censorship. Trashy novels. Read by lonely women who need to get a life. Someone always has an opinion about the fiction read by women. I hope you join us this week for our discussion. And please don't be shy. We welcome your comments. And this page is my opinions and personal observations alone.

Born To Read Books-Cyndi

Romancing the Readers-Ann

Erotica was invented in 2011 when E. L. James wrote Fifty Shades Of Gray. People around the planet were dying to read it and made E. L. a very rich woman. All the talk shows were talking about it, even Dr. Oz. That's when I first heard the derogatory term "mommy-porn" used. Serious writers dissed it, hating it's success. Of course, I was kidding when I said she invented erotica. But as a fan of all different romance genres, I know that sex in novels has always existed, think "Lady Chatterley's Lover" or "The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders",  and there have been many authors who have written erotica for years, and have written it better than the faddish Fifty Shades and it's various imitators. A few that come to mind are Ellen Holly, Lora Leigh, and Jaid Black. Pioneers in erotica. And there are plenty more.

     When I was a teen-ager, I read love stories by Harlequin. My gram bought them in bulk and passed them on to me. Romantic, but the sex was only implied. No sex before marriage. My mom was a member of Doubleday, so I had a a more grown up selection to read with sexy or spicy scenes. Today they would be very tame to a lot of readers. When my kids were small, I didn't read as many novels, I didn't have the time or energy. Years later, the kids were older and I began to read again. Boy, did things change.

     Books had grown and changed on me. Heroines were no longer doormats and were smart and independent and they had a sex life before they got married. It didn't matter whether the woman was a librarian, a lawyer, or waitress, a woman could have a sex life ...and enjoy it. Things were written more graphically, a such a variety of topics. BDSM, multiple partners, vampire mind sex, dream lovers...the list goes on. Black Lace, and Ellora's Cave were pioneers in the contemporary erotic markets. E-book stores offered a new way to find a good selection. Nikita Black's "Cajun Hot" was released in 2000 and is still a favorite to this day.

     For me, I like a good story to go with my erotic stories. I still want the HEA and not just sex for sex sake. I want a good plot to go with my menage. I have read some contemporary romances that were more erotic than some poorly written stories rushed to print by some erotica publishers. I also don't care for erotica written in the 1st. Person. To me, it's not sexy at all and that's just my preference and taste. Everyone has their own levels of comfort. It is a very personal thing. What I don't like are people who diss sex in books and they don't even read them. They just spout off and judge. I have also read reviews by prudish readers who labeled a couple of very popular contemporary authors who wrote gentle love scenes as obscene. Really? OMG, he touched her breast! We're all going to hell! These readers just want to complain about everything and must not be happy people. But don't ruin it for other readers. If you don't like it, don't buy it. Don't be lazy and just research a story. Read other reviews.

     So now, I will share some of my favorite sexy stories. There were something about each that I have never forgotten because the scenes were steamy and left me wanting more.

So what do you think about sex in books. Please leave a comment and tell us what you like or don't like about this weeks topic. And check back with us next week. We are going to have a new Giveaway!