Perfect Formation by KB Alan

Perfect Formation is KB Alan’s impressive debut e-book about a Will and Grace-type couple’s ménage with a bisexual dominant man.

Richard Daniels and Taryn Moss are walking home drunk and are immediately struck by a man who captures both their attention. Caleb Black thinks their drunken admiration and palpable intimacy are cute, so he decides to ask them both out when they’re sober. Sparks continue to fly when they learn that although Richard is gay, he likes having sex with Taryn, who is straight, and that Caleb likes topping both men and women.

Even though the relationship is somewhat affected by outside influences such as their families and friends, Alan skilfully balances each member’s relationship with the others. Taryn is uncomfortable with getting too close to her men in case the relationship fails or she loses Richard’s friendship. Richard is afraid that Taryn and Caleb may decide that they want a completely hetero relationship, since they can marry and have children in a socially acceptable and legally recognised union, (more)

Remastering Jerna by Ann Somerville

A BDSM book for readers who don’t read BDSM. Yes, it was that good.

[Edited because my previous intro was highly susceptible to misunderstanding.]

Australian author Ann Somerville has, at times, been a controversial figure in some of the online romance communities I hang out in. I mention this up front because I get the feeling that a lot of readers will want to dismiss her work based on preconceived notions.

All I can say is that they’d be missing out on one of my most unexpected keepers of 2009. (And I’m not the only one who thinks so.)

Yes, the book starts a little shakily as Somerville sets up the protagonist, Jerna Setiq, a devoted husband, teacher and father of two, whose contented life is decimated when he’s falsely convicted of child perversion. Once the stage is set for Jerna’s emotional journey, however, Somerville gets it just about perfect. (more)

Brainchild of Marg from Reading Adventures and Kailana from The Written World

Yes, I’m late for my Advent Tour post. The good news is … everything here is FREE! Plus…

BOOK GIVEAWAY: Read on for a chance to win a copy of Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James. The contest ends midnight on Wednesday, January 6 AEST.

But first, something for the 2009 Blog Advent Tour, the brainchild of Marg from Reading Adventures and Kailana from The Written World. (Yes, even though it’s now Boxing Day.)

Last year, I posted links to a bunch of free stories online because hey, what’s an Advent calendar without free stuff? So in keeping with tradition, I asked tweeples and ARRA members for links to free stories online. Here they are for your holiday reading pleasure. (Thanks to everyone who sent me links!)

Free stories by Australian authors

Hellcursed by Erica Hayes – A prequel to Shadowfae, one of my favourite debut novels for 2009 (more)

Sweet Seduction by Maya Banks (Sweet Series, Book 3)

A blend of sympathetic characters, the heroine’s emotional journey and hot fantasy sex overcome the far-fetched plot in Maya Banks’ latest erotic romance.

The drama between Nathan Tucker and Julie Stanford stems from a Big Misunderstanding: he’s so in awe of her that he can barely get 2 words out in her presence and instead comes off as uninterested. Julie is a drama queen and doesn’t accept his apparent disinterest with good grace. Oh, no, this brassy chick makes a final attempt to get Nathan’s attention by throwing in a free blow job with his back massage before telling him that she is no longer offering him her services (those of a legitimate nature, at least) and avoiding him for a week out of sheer vindictiveness and petulance. After all, why shouldn’t he know what he’s missed and keep her from being the only frustrated one?

She doesn’t feel bad about violating her professional ethics or deliberately stirring Nathan up knowing she has no intention of letting things go further and decides to exorcise her Nathan demon with an anonymous threesome at The House (more)

Cold Front by Ann Somerville (Pindone Files, Book 4)

Because who could resist that cover? Seriously.

When I was offered the chance to read an M/m romance by Australian author Ann Somerville, I scrolled through her website and the book with the shirtless man in tight black pants with his hands cuffed behind his back brought out my inner cover tart.

Then, when I read that it was along the lines of an M/m BDSM paranormal CSI, I was even more interested in the story because just one of those would have been enough to attract my attention. The book contains two prequel novellas, One Brief Encounter and A House is not a Home, followed by the novel Cold Front, which is the focus of this review.

One Brief Encounter

One Brief Encounter is told mostly from Dekan hon Cerimwe den Tsikeni’s point of view. Dek met Rensire hon Parmin den Vizinken in a bar while visiting Ren’s home region for police training and they had an immediate connection. (more)

Dark Master by Tawny Taylor (Masters of Desire, Book 1)

I wanted to like Dark Master, but just couldn’t. It had all the ingredients—hot, dominant male vampire king needs a passionate human female to secure his power base. Lots of potential there, but even though I knew not to expect Vishous, I was hugely disappointed. And since the aspect of the book that I hated, hated, hated and felt disgusted by was something I think a halfway decent editor should have picked up on, I consider it my duty to warn people off this crappy book.

Regan Roslund was a spoiled rich girl who trusted the wrong financier with her inherited wealth and is suddenly left with no money, no assets and no skills, except for a little bondage store left by a black sheep relative, containing a necklace designed to select the next vampire queen, carelessly left on a display waiting to be tried on by poor unsuspecting subs.

Shadow Sorensen badly needs a queen because the vampire community is on the brink of civil war and having a human for his queen gives him a huge enough boost to his power that he cannot be challenged. When Regan puts on the necklace and meets with its approval, (more)

This is a round-up of ARRC09 and is not in chronological order. If you want to read more anecdotes, check out the liveblog. Click here for a list of ARRC09 posts and liveblogs .

Gala dinner

I wasn’t sure what to expect at the gala dinner, but there had been some discussion in the ARRC Lounge as to what people were wearing. Opting for a little black dress, I arrived just as the entrees were being taken away. Oh, well. I didn’t have much time to nibble, anyway, because as soon as I sat down I was immersed in book conversations left, right and centre.

I was seated with Vassiliki, my librarian and my fellow blogger Marg from Reading Adventures. Also at our table were authors Jess Dee and Lexxie Couper, two readers from Sydney, one from Malaysia, and another lady who was too far away for me to have a proper conversation with. Obviously, we mostly talked about books. I was seated next to an erotic romance reader, so I asked her for recs. I think she said Anya Bast, and possibly a few others that I can now no longer remember. (more)

Hosted by Marg from Reading Adventures and Kailana from The Written World

This is Book Thingo’s contribution to the 2008 Blog Advent Tour, hosted by Marg from Reading Adventures and Kailana from The Written World.

You may think this post is late for the Advent Tour, but I’ve looked it up and it’s still Saturday in some parts of the world, so phew! I just scraped through.

In the tradition of Advent calendars, I thought I’d offer up some surprise goodies for everyone. Since this is a book blog, I’ve come up with a list of free stories for you to sample.

(If you know me at all, you’ll realise that the reason this post is late is because I was compelled to read each story first to, uh, make sure that, erm, they’re of a sufficiently high quality. My motives were entirely selfless. Ahem.)

Anyway, you guys are in for a treat because these freebies are fantabulous. I’ve included a link to each author’s website so you can check out more of their work if you’re interested. (more)

Caine's Reckoning by Sarah McCarty (Hell's Eight, Book 1)

Caine’s Reckoning has not been an easy book to find. First, Spice (Harlequin’s erotic line) isn’t published in Australia. Second, my husband had to scour bookstores all over San Francisco to find a copy, which he finally did in some obscure Borders Express store somewhere. Yay for husbands! I really wanted to love this book, and I can see why it’s generated so much buzz (aside from the fantabulous cover), but it fell a little short of my expectations.

Desi, the heroine, is forced into sexual servitude, and the only way Caine can save her is to marry her. I expected very dark, very intense sex scenes that would show how Desi deals with and is healed of the horrors she had to endure. Instead, I felt that her recovery was extremely rushed. While the sex scenes were very erotic and very well written, they didn’t have much emotional resonance. I didn’t understand her sexual choices at all, and at times I felt that she made them just to please Caine, rather than for herself. (more)