HOT FINISH
Author: Erin McCarthy
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Source: Personal Purchase
ISBN: 9780425235942

SUMMARY
From Goodreads

Not all marriages last forever!


Suzanne Jefferson is broke, which is why she’s given up charity work for wedding planning. Fortunately, she has a high-profile client,and best of all, he’s paid in advance. There are just two teensy problems: The bride is a bona fide bridezilla, and Suzanne’s ex-husband is the best man. At least she thought he was her ex-husband!


But this one might…


Two years after their marriage fell apart, stock car race driver Ryder Jefferson still can’t stop thinking about Suzanne. Which is why he isn’t too upset that, due to a glitch, the two are still technically married. Now he’s imagining easing Suzanne’s woes by satisfying her needs in the bedroom. After all, that’s the one room they never argued in. Besides, with wedding bells ringing all around them, Ryder is wondering if,even though they’d quit the race a few laps too early,they can still come on strong with a big, romantic finish!

After reading about Ryder and Suzanne in the last two books, I was looking forward to reading their story.  Suzanne has been entertaining with her snark and wit so I was looking forward to the brave front she was going to portray in her happily-ever-after.  Ryder has always been the nice guy but he does have a sexy streak in playing the field at times.  Put these two together and I was looking for some fun and smexy action! Unfortunately, their book was not as entertaining and as romantic as the first two books.  Don’t get me wrong!  There was sexy time and there was humor, but their romance just didn’t click for me as the previous books have.

I think my main problem with this book is the character of Suzanne.  Yes I love her smart mouth and the funny lines she comes up with, but I was clearly on Ryder’s side of the fence in the romance.  This woman does not know how to talk and work things out.  She would rather run than talk about anything. She walked out on her marriage of two years instead of just talking to Ryder.  They clearly still love each other and I give kudos to Ryder for attempting to try and work things out.  He may not have been romantic in some of his actions, but you could tell he was serious and trying the best way he could.  Whenever he did try to do something nice for Suzanne, she would twist it all around and make him look like a bad guy.  I just couldn’t bring myself to enjoy her character in the romance department.  When it came to the fun dialogue though, Suzanne and Ryder are pros at getting a chuckle out of the reader.

While this wasn’t my favorite book in the series, it still had its moments of enjoyment.  What I love the most is how the author includes previous characters and weaves them into the current story.  Usually in a series, previous characters are forgotten and the plot moves on.  With the Fast Track series, they are such a big family of friends that they are included in the plot and remembered through out the story. I am anxious to start reading the next book and can’t wait to see what the author has in store for the still-eligible bachelors of the race track!

Suzanne got two feet into her kitchen then couldn’t hold back.  She whirled and smacked the envelope and stack of papers against his chest.  “This says we’re still married!”
Ryder’s eyebrows shot up.  “No shit?  Does that mean we can have guilt-free sex then?”
Oh, yeah.  She was going to kill him.
–Ryder and Suzanne, page 13

She gave him the look, the one that made his nuts want to withdraw back into his body.
–Ryder, page 27

“You have sixty seconds to get your butt in this car or I’m hitting the gas, and I don’t give a shit what I run over on you.  Your pretty dick is going to lose its place on the penis pageant after it’s had an SUV roll over it.”
–Suzanne to Ryder, page 92

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

Hard and Fast
Fast Track Series #2
Author: Erin McCarthy
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Release Date: May 5, 2009
ISBN: 9780425228470

SUMMARY
from Goodreads

An experiment in romance!


New to Charlotte, stock car racing country, graduate student Imogen Wilson meets Ty McCordle, a driver who inexplicably has her pulse racing. After an encounter at the track with a woman whose main goal in life is to marry a driver, Imogen realizes she’s hit on the perfect thesis for her Sociology degree. If she follows The Rules on how to get a man, can she steer her way to into the hearts of the drivers and establish their dating,and mating,patterns?


That’s testing the limits of passion.


Although sexy and reckless Ty is the ideal test subject, she knows she can’t pursue him for the sake of science. Yet he’s the one who’s chasing after her, and Imogen realizes that she actually wants to be caught. A southern gentleman like Ty won’t fail to disappoint, will satisfy all her curiosity,and make all the risks worthwhile!

Whew! Somebody get me a fan after reading some smexy scenes from this book!

While the first book in this series was sexy, the author took Hard and Fast to the next level in the sex.  Who would have thought playboy Ty McCordle had a dominant side to him in the bedroom?  I must have reread that chapter over and over again just so I could imagine it in my head with me in Imogen’s place.

Ty and Imogen meet for the first time in the previous book. It was brief, but the reader knew the author was going to pair them up together in their own book.  Imogen is smart and very logical.  She is curious and wants to know everything including the small details in anything.  When they meet again at a party, you could feel the sexual tension between the two.  One problem though is that Ty is still involved with an airhead called Nikki.  While Ty and Imogen talk in her car — while waiting for the rain to let up — things get pretty intense between the two. When Nikki is caught making out with another man on the car hood though, Ty is able to finally make the break he was planning on with Nikki. Imogen and Ty get hot and heavy and decide to take it back to Ty’s house.  Unfortunately, things don’t go as planned and Ty tells her to go home and think about what she wants first.

Seriously, I was laughing out loud when Imogen was trying to explain her night to her friend Suzanne.  Suzanne is a laugh-out-loud-a-minute kind of gal and she keeps the snark flowing in this book.  I want a friend like Suzanne — hands down!  Imogen is so technical in over thinking everything that you won’t believe some of the things that go through her brain and straight out her mouth.  Case in point — she flat out tells Ty she won’t do butt sex.  I almost died in laughter when this scene played out.  Then when she recapped it with Suzanne, I laughed again!

” I was born without the flirt gene.  It’s truly awful for me.”  That was no exaggeration.  ” I mean, look at how I screwed up last night with Ty.  He was flirting and tossing off sexual innuendos,  and I just looked at him and said I would not have anal sex with him.”
“You what?” Suzanne shrieked so loud that Imogen saw half a dozen other fitness patrons swivel their heads to look at them.  “Did he ask you to? At the party?”
“No, of course not.”  Which was what made it all the more ridiculous.  “We were in the car and he was hinting about positions, what was to come, etc., and I just blurted out that I wasn’t doing that with him.”
“Girl…” was  Suzanne’s though on the matter, her expression one of total horror.  “Do not bring up the back door unless he’s knocking on it.”

I don’t think I have laughed so much in a romance in so long.  I actually liked the slow build of their relationship in this book.  I wasn’t a big fan of the way Imogen speaks all of the time — it became a little Rain Man at times — but I did think that the ‘opposites attract’ angle worked really well in this one.  Ty was a sweetheart in public, but a dominating man in the bedroom.  This is exactly what Imogen needed to come out of her shell.

I am enjoying this series so much and I can’t wait to read the next book!

Outstanding book that will stay on my bookshelf for rereading!

The drama and romance continue in this 144-page full-color graphic novel adaptation of the second Vampire Academy novel, Frostbite, which was overseen by Richelle Mead and features beautiful art by acclaimed British illustrator Emma Vieceli.

When you love a series as much as I did with the Vampire Academy, I will look for anything to revisit the characters again.  Also, since I am starting to read more graphic novels lately, this book was able to fill both needs at one time.

While the book does not go as in depth as the books do,  they are a good refresher book to help you remember things that happened in the actual novels.  While we refresh our memories through this book, we also get some amazing artwork that helps bring the characters alive in our minds through sight.  The artwork is amazing in my opinion.  The artists really did outdo themselves with bringing little details to life with their art.

If you are wanting to read this series as a graphic novel instead of the actual book, then this book gives you a story without going overboard.  I also feel that this is a great way to refresh your memory if you were fans of this series in regular print work.  Overall a great addition to have if you are a serious Vampire Academy fan or if you are just starting out on the adventure.

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Independent single mother Tamara Briggs wanted to find a new, sexy, no-strings-attached man-just not one as young as NASCAR driver Elec Monroe. But he sure does get her heart racing. And after she’s tricked into a blind date with him, Tamara gives in to her passion. Things screech to a halt, though, when he asks to meet her children. Whatever happened to wham-bam-thank-you ma’am? Suddenly Tamara has to decide how much risk she’s willing to take to experience the power of true love.

I finally caved and started the adventure of reading about race car drivers.  I will admit that I agree with comedian Jeff Dunham in mystery of Nascar enthusiasts. I don’t see the appeal sitting on the couch watching cars drive 100 plus miles on a circle track making constant left turns. “Look! He’s doing another left turn!” After reading Flat-Out Sexy though, I can certainly see the appeal of the drivers themselves.  Hot dang this book was hot!

When widowed Tamara Briggs accidentally bumps into Elec Monroe at a party, she finds the handsome race car driver to be polite and sexy.  At first she gets the impression that he is just part of a pit crew and not a Rookie driver.  When she breaks it off with a man she has been dating — that is definitely not working out — she decides to leave the party early.  Unfortunately she has misplaced her purse and has nowhere to go.  Her  friend Ryder tells her she can stay in his Coach over night and Elec can see her home safely.  What happens after the drive is anything but boring.  They end up sleeping together and find themselves enjoying each others company.

I found the story to be sweet, romantic and sexy all at the same time.  I could see the how Tamara was a little worried about having a fling with Elec.  She has kids to think about, she lost her husband to a horrible crash on the track, and her former in-laws — that are still apart of the picture — have a grudge against the Monroe family.  She also worries about the age difference with her being older than him and has insecurities with her ‘motherly’ body.  I love how Elec treated Tamara.

The only problem I had with the story was when I thought the author was going to take the reader on that familiar path of the in-laws accusing Tamara of being a bad mother and going for custody.  I was so happy that the author quickly changed that path.  That might have ruined the story for me.  I did feel that the ending was a little rushed, but overall it didn’t change my feelings too much on the book.

A great new series for me to continue reading and I can’t wait to read about the other characters in the future!

Very Good! I would recommend this book!