Freebie-smut by L.A. Witt, Melissa Blue and Hannah L. Corrie
I got a hold of a whole bunch of freebies a while ago, so I figured I’d do some quickie reviews of those.
Blood From a Stoner by L.A. Witt
This story is actually pretty much what you’d imagine from a book called Blood From a Stoner. It’s about a vampire named Greg (yes, Greg) who gets accidentally stoned by sucking blood from – yes, you guessed it – a stoner. Said stoner, Zane, is the mortal who also happens to be the colleague who Greg’s had a crush on for ages. And yes, that’s the start of sucking more than just blood.
Pros: It’s a really fresh take on the vampire-theme. Vampires being commonplace and Greg just being a disillusioned corporate drone. I like the world-building. A lot.
Cons: It’s a novella. And the short length means there’s hardly any character development and you don’t really get to know either of the main characters.
Smut-factor: Decent. Occasional steam but nothing too exciting.
Under His Kilt by Melissa Blue
This is an awesome name for a book and the only reason I read it. I mean, who can resist a title like that!? Not me, that’s for sure. It’s a story about Jocelyn who asks her temporary, visiting colleague Ian, the scotsman in this scenario, to help her cross off some stuff from her bucket-list. Sexual stuff. So they go at it, knowing this is a short-term thing that’ll end when Ian’s stay ends.
Pros: The title and the cover picture.
Cons: The entire read is just meh. They jump into a physical relationship, without the author even establishing some kind of personality for either Jocelyn or Ian. Jocelyn’s supposedly getting Ian’s help to live out some of her more risqué fantasies, but in actuality, those fantasies are plain, old vanilla sex. There’s much of it. And pretty nothing else.
Smut-factor: Non-existent although there’s lots of nakey.
Unwilling by Hannah L. Corrie
This one’s an M/M shifter romance. I do have a soft spot for those. Unwilling is the story of how the submissive (that’s in the shifter, not the BDSM, sense) Darwin meets his alpha mate Jared. And as can be deduced from the title, Darwin’s not jumping for joy about that. But that’s mainly because he has so much else to worry about. There’s real trouble in his pack. Break-ins and assaults, missing submissives and a pack alpha who’s gone off his rocker.
Pros: There are lots of things happening here. Many different angles and side-stories, so it’s so much more than a romance. It’s simply very much effort put into the story-line and basically a great plot.
Cons: Well, Darwin quite frankly acted a bit stupid. You know when the blond girl in a slasher-movie decides to go off on her own when there’s a crazed killer running loose? Darwin’s a bit like that, only he knows it’s stupid but does it anyway.
Smut-factor: Low. There’s some nooky, but lube-less M/M shenanigans makes me cringe.