BECAUSE I REMEMBER TERROR FATHER, I REMEMBER YOU by Sue William Silverman

PUB. INFO: University of Georgia Press, 9/99
GENRE: Nonfiction/Memoir
AUTHOR WEBSITE: Link
GRADE: A

SYNOPSIS: From age four to eighteen Sue William Silverman was sexually abused with numbing regularity by her father, a high-ranking government official and successful banker. Rendered in often graphic detail, her story annihilates our complacency about who among us could commit such evil – and who could stop it, for this is also a story of complicity, of the blaming silence with which Silverman’s mother met her daughter’s clear signals of distress. Exposing the inner contours of a family in crisis, Silverman shows how their situation persisted for so long – unreported, undetected, and unconfessed – and how the ordeal colored and controlled her life well into adulthood.

MY THOUGHTS: How the author could be so open and honest about something so horrible is beyond me. Not only was she molested for many years, beginning at the age of four, around 1950, she’s a recovering sex addict, ‘cutter’, and is still bulimic. She comes from a long line of child abusers. The book is very dark, very graphic, so be warned. Sue takes us on a disturbing journey through her life. She holds nothing back.

ABSOLUTE MAYHEM: Secret Confessions of a Porn Star by Monica Mayhem

PUBLISHER: Skyhorse Publishing, 10/2010
GENRE: Autobiography/Memoir
GRADE: A

SYNOPSIS: So begins the no-holds-barred autobiography of Monica Mayhem—a porn star and proud of it. In her funny and disarmingly candid voice, she reveals the ins and outs of making it big in Los Angeles, the pornography capital of the world. Just how did a girl who was taunted at school because her eyes were “too big,” and who carved out a respectable career for herself trading oil futures in the financial markets of Sydney and London, go on to make over four hundred hardcore adult movies (and counting), win numerous industry awards, and even land herself a role in the first Sex and the City movie? From her troubled childhood to her first show at the famous Spearmint Rhino in London to her favorite sex toys, Monica reveals how she built her empire—which now includes hundreds of films, a website, and lucrative burlesque performances.

Absolute Mayhem lifts the lid on the sex, rock, and mayhem of Monica’s truly extraordinary professional life and unveils the private person behind it all.

MY THOUGHTS: Wow! This is one blunt, graphic, tell-it-like-it-is memoir. Monica is one smart, confident woman. She was born in Australia in 1978 to an abusive, pill-popping, alcohol addicted mother and absentee father. She grew up feeling unloved and unwanted. She has found success in a tough business and has achieved so much at a young age. She’s brutally honest with everything she talks about, including her continued drug use. She seems to have a really positive attitude and one helluva sense of humor.

This book was a true A-read. If, like me, complete honesty and openness is what you want in a memoir, this is a book you should read. I truly wish Monica the best and hope she continues to have a positive attitude.

You can read a bit about Monica here and see her photo.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

A PROMISE OF TOMORROW by Rowan McAllister

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press, 9/2011
GENRE: Male/Male historical romance
SETTING: England, 1818
HERO: Lord James Warren
HERO: Kyle Allen
GRADE: A

SYNOPSIS: Lord James Warren, Viscount Sudbury, lives a quiet, safe, and predictable life alone on his estate in Suffolk, only traveling to London once a year to visit family and satisfy his more forbidden needs. But this year, his routine is shattered when his niece and nephew ask him to help a beautiful young man they’ve only just met.

Kyle Allen, alone and running from his abusive lover, stirs feelings in James he has long denied for fear of tarnishing his reputation and losing his family’s love. Though undeniably drawn to Kyle, James’s honor demands he keep that part of himself completely secret, even if Kyle is feeling the attraction as well, despite the pain and betrayal he’s recently suffered.

Assistance and a future for Kyle might be secured, but then they would face a choice: stay apart and continue leading half-lives… or risk everything for love.

MY THOUGHTS: James: He’s thirty-four years old, over six feet tall, has brown curly hair and brown eyes. He’s the youngest of two. He lives alone and is very close to his nineteen-year old twin niece and nephew.

Kyle: He’s eighteen-ish, has dark hair and green eyes. He grew up in his older brother’s shadow and could never live up to his parents expectations. He was in an abusive relationship with a much older man, Victor Weir, and has been raped by him.

What an interesting story this was. It’s a true love story and James and Kyle are a perfect match. James really tried to fight off his attraction to Kyle but Kyle wouldn’t let him. Kyle is very young and vulnerable to everything. He’s very passive and wounded. They have to hide their relationship and I was hoping they’d find a way to be together.

There are three very graphic sex scenes. Knowing Kyle has been abused, James is very tender with him. I felt they were a perfect pair and that made me enjoy the intimate scenes more.

My two complaints are that I don’t think James telling his niece about Kyle was believable at all. We never learned about how Kyle came to be involved with Victor in the first place and I’d like to have known about it.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

VIXEN by Jillian Larkin

PUB. INFO: Delacorte Press, December 2010
RERELEASE: Ember, August 9, 2011
SETTING: Chicago, USA, 1923
GENRE: Historical Fiction
SERIES? ‘The Flappers’, book one.
HEROINE: Gloria Carmody, 17
GRADE: A

SYNOPSIS: Every girl wants what she can’t have. Seventeen-year-old Gloria Carmody wants the flapper lifestyle—and the bobbed hair, cigarettes, and music-filled nights that go with it. Now that she’s engaged to Sebastian Grey, scion of one of Chicago’s most powerful families, Gloria’s party days are over before they’ve even begun . . . or are they?

Clara Knowles, Gloria’s goody-two-shoes cousin, has arrived to make sure the high-society wedding comes off without a hitch—but Clara isn’t as lily-white as she appears. Seems she has some dirty little secrets of her own that she’ll do anything to keep hidden. . . .
Lorraine Dyer, Gloria’s social-climbing best friend, is tired of living in Gloria’s shadow. When Lorraine’s envy spills over into desperate spite, no one is safe. And someone’s going to be very sorry. . .

MY THOUGHTS:

Gloria Garmody- She’s the heroine and has red/copper hair and green eyes. She’s a seventeen year old high school girl who lives in Chicago. She comes from a wealthy family. She’s engaged to a twenty-three year old young man named Sebastian Grey, who has dark hair and green eyes. He’s only after her money and he’s a shady character.

Lorraine Dyer- Gloria’s best friend since they were eight years old. She has dark hair and hazel eyes. She’s very jealous of Gloria and has the hots for Gloria’s close male friend, Marcus Eastman. He’s got blond hair and green eyes. Lorraine is a villain who seems to only care about herself.

Clara Knowles- She’s Gloria’s eighteen year old cousin who’s from Pennsylvania. She’s got golden blond hair and blue eyes. She’s got some skeletons in her closet and those are revealed near the end of the book. She’s very likable.

I really enjoyed this book. It’s a ‘young adult’ book but ignore that. The lead characters are seventeen and eighteen but they certainly don’t act like teens. This is a book for adults. Gloria falls for a black piano player named Jerome Johnson who works in a jazz club and there’s some serious drama with that toward the end of the story. I can’t wait to find out what happens with that in the next book, Ingenue.

I happen to like villainous females in fiction so I’d have to say Lorraine is my favorite. She makes a mess of things and later gets involved with a gangster named Carlito. Carlito is out to get Jerome for something horrible that happens.

At first, I really didn’t like Jerome’s younger sister, Vera, but she makes another appearance near the end and we find out she’s in cahoots with none other than Sebastian! She doesn’t like that Sebastain’s girlfriend, Gloria, is involved with her brother Jerome, so she sticks her nose where it does’t belong and things go downhill fast.

I’m so glad I read this. I’ve never really known much about the ’Flapper’ time period and thought it truly original to begin a series during that time. 

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

AIN'T NO SUNSHINE: Men Reveal the Pain of Heartbreak by Kimberley A. Johnson and Ann Werner

PUBLISHER: CreateSpace, May 2011
GENRE: Non Fiction
FORMAT: Paperback and Kindle
GRADE: A

SYNOPSIS: What sorrow lurks in the minds of men suffering from a broken heart? Ain’t No Sunshine knows! How do men feel when they lose someone they love? Do they cry? Do they obsess? Do they call psychics? Under the protection of anonymity, thirty-eight men describe in detail how they’ve dealt with the pain of heartbreak. Whether it’s because of divorce, betrayal, death or simply getting dumped, the raw honesty of these men may surprise you. Modern American society so often discourages men from admitting to emotional pain, especially when it comes to matters of the heart. From an early age men are taught to “suck it up.” Women often think men have it easier when it comes to the pain of heartbreak. But is that really the case?

Ain’t No Sunshine provides an opportunity to unlock those mysteries in this informal collection of stories. Interviews with therapists, psychics and bartenders are included and provide informative insights into how men react to a broken heart. Love is never easy. Loss of love is always difficult. Here is proof that not only do men struggle, sometimes the struggle is more difficult than it is for women. Ain’t No Sunshine is a rare glimpse into the elusive male psyche.

MY THOUGHTS: This was a sad and very interesting glimse into the minds of men who are hurting after deaths and breakups. Some hurt just like women do but they mostly keep it inside. I liked hearing all the different stories and was surprised not only by how many men sought therapy, even years after their breakup, but by how many of them chose to not have sex for years afterward.

I do think men are less emotional, at least outwardly, than women and wasn’t surprise to read that a therapist said men tend to express themselves through writing and poetry.
I throughly enjoyed this book but wished it could have been longer.

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

ANY WICKED THING by Margaret Rowe

PUBLISHER: Berkley, May 201
SETTING: England, 1818
HEROINE: Fredericka Wells, 28
HERO: Sebastian Goddard, 31
VIRGIN HEROINE? Yes
PURCHASE: link
GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: Ten years ago Sebastian Goddard, heir to the duke of Roxbury, had a night of reckless passion and was betrayed by his oldest friend Fredericka Wells. Devastated, he embarked on a new life of debauchery that earned him the nickname Lord of Sin.

Now Sebastian has returned to find his estate in ruins, and Freddie more seductive than ever. He’s determined to pay her back in spades. But Freddie makes him an offer…she’ll be his mistress for a month if he’ll consent to sell her Goddard Castle.

Sebastian plans to scandalize Freddie-to tease her every desire and leave her wanting. But his fiery-willed lover soon teaches him the past may not be what it seemed.

MY THOUGHTS: This is another spicy historical. I liked that the hero and heroine grew up together, though as adults didn’t seem to get along too well. The hero was once imprisoned for eight months and had developed an opium addiction and, fortunately for him, overcame it. He wasn’t the nicest hero. He was always a bit rude toward the heroine and I didn’t feel any emotion for her coming from him. He only lusted after her.

Freddie was her own woman, not a wimpy heroine in any way. She was content to be single and didn’t want to marry. She had her own money, which her father left her when he died. She fancied herself in love with Sebastian for most of her life but I never felt it.

The two made a deal to have sex with each other for a month and boy, did they have fun and so did I reading it! There was plenty of graphic sex and if you’re reading it for that reason alone, you shouldn’t be disappointed. They were childhood friends, and housemates, that happened to fall in lust but I, as the reader, was left feeling disappointed by their lack of affection for each other.

I must say I LOVE the cover. It’s very pretty!

Margaret Rowe also writes under the name Maggie Robinson.

I received this from the publisher or author in 2011 in exchange for an honest review.

TEMPTING EDEN by Margaret Rowe

PUBLISHER: Berkley, June 2010
SETTING: England, 1818
GENRE: Fiction/Erotic Historical Romance
PURCHASE: link
VIRGIN HEROINE? No   
MY GRADE: A-

FROM PUBLISHER: Eden Emery is no stranger to sin. To keep her sister safe from harm, she’s paid a steep price with her body-and very nearly lost her soul. But when Baron Ivor Hartford, the man who has dishonored her, finally dies, her troubles are far from over.

Major Stuart Hartford, the late baron’s nephew, is in the market for an honorable wife, but first he has to take care of the matter of his Uncle Ivor’s ward, Eden-a young woman who makes him question the virtue of being proper. For the passion she incites burns away his inhibitions and inflames his heart.

But Eden has vowed to never again cede her destiny to a man. And Hart is left with no choice but to tempt the temptress herself…

MY THOUGHTS: Boy, was this one dark story with a heroine who had an unusual past. We got to hear about it through book excerpts what were written by her sex partner, Ivor. They were graphic and a bit disturbing. Eden really had no choice in the matter when she began a sexual relationship with him four years earlier, at the age of eighteen. Even though she had to do it, she loved every minute of it.

I didn’t really sense a love connection between Eden and Stuart even though we were told they loved each other. I never understood why Stuart wanted to marry her so soon. I never understood why she turned him down so many times. She did feel she was unworthy but that too didn’t seem true. Both characters were very likeable but I wish Stuart had been a little more alpha.

All of the sex scenes were very graphic and I enjoyed them. There was even one with the heroine using a dildo anally. I preferred the scenes that were between Eden and Ivor to those between her and Stuart, the hero. I think the ones with Ivor were more graphic and detailed.

I found it interesting that the author created a young heroine, twenty-two, who was very skilled/experienced at sex and actually liked it. That’s not the usual type of historical heroine we’re given and I found it a refreshing change.

Ms. Rowe also writes under the name Maggie Robinson. You can check out her website here.

Books by Margaret Rowe:
-Tempting Eden June 2010
-Any Wicked Thing Mar 2011

Books by Maggie Robinson:
-Mistress by Mistake May 2011
-Not Quite a Courtesan (short story in Lords Of Passion) Dec 2010
-Mistress by Midnight Jan 2011
-To Match a Thief (short story in Improper Gentlemen) August 2011
-Mistress by Marriage Sept 2011

I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

THE SOLDIER by Grace Burrowes

Publisher: Sourcebooks, 6/2011
Setting: England  
Hero: Devlin St. Just 
Heroine: Emmaline Farnum 
Rating: D/2 stars

SYNOPSIS: Devlin St. Just has tried everything to escape his demons. But his responsibilities are multiplying and his despair deepening, until beautiful, enigmatic neighbor Emmaline Farnum steps in...

Devlin's torn spirit calls to Emmaline, but even as she gives in to his irresistible caresses and her own growing desires, she's keeping a devastating secret...

Protecting Emmaline becomes Devlin's urgent mission, if only he can overcome the forces that are driving them irretrievably apart...

MY THOUGHTS: I didn't enjoy this story from the start. Hero and heroine met way too soon and acted too familiar with each other, as if they'd known each other for years. We didn't get to know them at all beforehand. Both were very likeable and there was chemistry between them from the beginning.

What I didn't like most of all was the character, Winnie. She's a small child, cousin to Emmaline, and is related to Devlin by marriage somehow. She's introduced just a few pages in and dominates the entire storyline. There's hardly a page she's not on in some way, either speaking herself or hero and heroine are speaking about her. I feel her dialogue is much more mature than a real five or six year old would ever speak. She sounds just like an adult most of the time. I also had trouble believing that a grown man of thirty-one would allow a child he's just met, who already has a home, move in with him the night they meet.

The rest of the novel is bland and uninteresting to me. If Winnie hadn't dominated the story, I might have liked it, but who can say? I won't be trying this author again.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

MIDNIGHT'S WILD PASSION by Anna Campbell

Publishing Info: Avon, April 2011
Setting: England 1827
Heroine: Antonia Smith, 27
Hero: Nicholas Challoner, 31
Timespan: 8 months
Grade/Rating: D

SYNOPSIS: London's most notorious seducer, Nicholas Challoner lives solely for revenge . . .

The dashing, licentious Marquess of Ranelaw can never forgive Godfrey Demarest for ruining his sister—now the time has come to repay the villain in the same coin. But one formidably intriguing impediment stands in the way of Nicholas's vengeance: Miss Antonia Smith, companion to his foe's unsuspecting daughter.

Having herself been deceived and disgraced by a rogue—banished by her privileged family as a result and forced to live a lie—Antonia vows to protect her charge from the same cruel fate. She recognizes Ranelaw for the shameless blackguard he is and will devote every ounce of her intelligence and resolve to thwarting him.

Yet Antonia has always had a fatal weakness for rakes . . .

MY THOUGHTS: I didn't care for this novel at all. I thought it was very silly and pointless. I didn't really care for either the hero or heroine. The hero wanting to 'ruin' someone the heroine was looking after was lame and not much was done with that element. From my point of view, the very thin storyline was really just the hero and heroine having a sexual relationship with each other from very early on. There were a few hot sex scenes but I pretty much skimmed them because I couldn't make myself become interested in it. From very early on I could see the story was going nowhere so I had to do a little bit of skimming. Bottom line: skip this one. It was so bad and I'm actually angry at the time I wasted on it.

I received this from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

REAP THE SAVAGE WIND by Ellen Tanner Marsh

PUBLISHER: Ace, 1982/Berkley, 1984
SETTING: 1764 Scotland, England, America
HEROINE: Merewyn MacAilis
HERO: Ian Montague
TIMESPAN: within 6 months
BODICE RIPPER? Yes
MY GRADE: B

FROM PUBLISHER: From the safety of her family castle to brutal degradation at the hands of a vicious enemy, the beautiful, headstrong Meiewyn MacAilis suffers agony and torment as she strives to restore her family's fortune.

But run as she might from despair and danger, there is no escaping Ian Montague. Like a fragile flower, she trembles in his hungry embrace... her own wild passion igniting as the urgent demands of his desire claim and conquer her... as the power o their love consumes them both.

SPOILER SUMMARY: The heroine is seventeen, has blond hair, blue eyes, fair skin and has Nordic ancestery. The hero has long dark hair and gray eyes. I don't think his age was given because I never read it.Hero and heroine meet early on in Scotland. She travels to his home to confront him about something and it turns ugly. Ian actually tries to strangle her with one hand while he's gripping her hair with the other. She flees and later is falsely accused of thievery and prostitution by someone whom we later find out is named William Rawlings, who's twenty-seven. She's shipped off to America and is to become an indentured servant but doesn't in the end.

Ian somehow finds out she's been kidnapped and rescues her. They continue to be combative toward each other. Not a whole lot goes on from here on out except a couple of interesting things that help the story along.

William is in a room at an inn with a prostitute, whom he murders while in the room with her. He dumps her body into the river.

Merewyn is out with someone (Ian?) and they run into Ian's jealous old flame, Elizabeth Comerford. She's got brown hair and pale green eyes. She's with William, the man who had Merewyn arrested but he doesn't recognize Merewyn at all. Merewyn recognizes him right away. He later becomes a bit obsessed with her, especially when she won't tell him her name. Elizabeth tells him who Merewyn really is, that she was  kidnapped and is being looked for but he still doesn't know she's the one he had arrested. Elizabeth comes up with a plan. She wants Ian, who is now engaged to Merewyn, and William wants Merewyn. So they send her a note telling her they know who she is and William wants to meet with her. Merewyn is terrified that William will recognize her and tell everyone that she was in jail for prostitution and is desperate to flee London, where they are now.

Ian and Merewyn marry and Ian finds a note that she was to send William. Ian mistakenly believes they're having an affair and abandons her and travels somewhere. Merewyn is out riding one night and William followes her. He plans to murder her. She'd previously threatened to tell the police that he had her falsely imprisoned for prostitution. William is terrified that if she brings his name up to the police that they'll somehow connect him to the murdered prostitute. And they later do.

Merewyn sees him chasing after her on horseback so she takes off on her horse and ends up at an abandonded home. She runs inside and tries to hid from William. He's chasing after her in the dark and shoots her in the arm. He ends up falling through the floor and dies when he lands. Her brothers show up just then and take her back home to Ian, but he's not here. They later reconsile and live happily-ever-after.

MY THOUGHTS: I've had this book a little over 1 1/2 years and finally read it. I enjoyed it but not as much as I'd hoped. My favorite part was when William and Elizabeth came up with their plan to ruin Merewyn. William never ended up with her, as planned and Elizabeth never got to be with Ian again.

This novel and Ian definitely fit the criteria for a bodice ripper. Ian is very angry and abusive. Not only did he try to choke Merewyn when they first met but is always threatening to do her harm. He once threatened to box her ears and another time asked her if she was trying to provoke him into murdering her! Say what?! A couple of times he ripped her gown off and even once told an acquaintance that he planned to 'beat her into submission.' Ain't he a keeper?

Merewyn is your typical fiesty heroine, never afraid to mouth off to the hero when necessary. She held her own against him. She was treated badly by him and somehow came to love him in the process. Their love came out of nowhere and wasn't at all believable. But that's OK with me.

It was believed that William murdered the prostitute in Scotland, Nellie Arling, but we never learned of how the authorities discovered that. I guess it's to be assumed he was seen entering the room with her or was seen dumping her dead body.