His Son's Teacher by Kay Stockham

His Son's Teacher:

Nick Tulane ordinarily won't admit weakness in himself or in those he loves. But when he learns his son is about to fail in school, the single father is desperate to find a tutor. And Jennifer Rose is perfect. In fact, Jen might be too perfect. Nick's starting to fall for the attractive teacher, and he can't let that happen. Because opening up to Jen means sharing the secret that has always made him feel like an outsider in his own family. Still, with his son showing signs of following in his footsteps, Nick can't keep the truth hidden. But once she knows, will Jen accept him...weakness and all?

Review: While this is part of a series, Tulanes of Tennessee, it is a stand alone story. Jennifer Rose is a overweight divorcee who has been emotionally abused by her ex-husband and father. Never made to feel that she was worthy or anything special, Jenn has a hard time coping with Nick. Nick has troubles from his childhood that he keeps closely guarded. This is a very interesting story. The secondary characters are done just right. They are not trying to take over the story. They are perfectly done, drawn out enough. What makes this story interesting is that Nick is not the knuckle dragging Harlequin alpha male. He is a sweet man who has very real issues he is dealing with. Jennifer is fat, overweight, etc. She not the classic Harlequin heroine. The flaws, perfections and imperfections of these characters is what makes this story special. I highly recommend this story as a keeper and reread.

Second Chances by Carolyn Faulkner

Second Chances:

There was just no getting away from that fact that Holly Johnson was fat. She knew she wasn’t cute and round, or pleasingly plump. She was fat - and smart and funny and impish. Chance Thompson was, in a word, not. Very not. In fact, he was downright gorgeous – and dominant and loving and supportive. He was always more than willing to lend Holly a guiding hand – preferably applied with a painful thwack to her ample bottom. Was happily ever after with him too much for an ugly duckling to hope for? At one time, Holly had thought her insecurities had been proven out, but now she wasn’t so sure . . . Second Chances is a romantic spanking story with lots of hot sex and loving correction.

Review: First off let me give you a warning that this is a spanking, or domestic discipline story. I am not someone who seeks out spanking stories, or is a member of that lifestyle. This not bdsm, it is discipline in a parent-child way. I can't explain it because I do not know anything about that lifestyle and I will make no judgment calls on it. That said, you're ass will tingle after reading this somewhat bittersweet tale from the infamous spanking author, Carolyn Faulkner. What I like about this story is that it really digs in on the whole issue of weight. The heroine is at least 40 pounds overweight and her mother is abusive in how she deals with having a "fat" child. Holly has serious issues because of that and her mom uses the insecurities she pounded on her daughter's head to jeopardize the friendship and budding love Holly has with Chance. I wanted to like Chance, I really did. But I couldn't. He did something unconscionable and I couldn't forgive him. Let me just say there is a reason why this book is entitled "Second Chances". As the reader, you will have to figure out if a second chance should have been given. I know my answer. I know this type of spanking/discipline story is not going to be for everyone, still I recommend that if you read this at least once. A great one-time read. And, YES, I did pick this book out for the hunky firefighter guy. Is it me or do just wanna lick around those tattoos?

Thinking about romances led to....

...thinking about romance songs. I'm not a country fan, or a Wynonna Judd fan for that matter. I do, however, love this song. When I first heard this song, I was gobsmacked. I couldn't believe it was a "country" song. Just beautiful and had to share it since I'm reading all these books to review. Ok, 'ya got me! I was actually rereading Making Chase. Here is "Only Love" by Wynonna Judd.

Annabelle Lee by NJ Walters

Annabelle Lee (from publisher):

By day Annabelle Lee is a perfect small town librarian, with loose-fitting dresses and hair scrunched up in a tight bun. But at night, lying in her lonely bed, her sensuality emerges in scorching, erotic dreams about Mike Sloan.
Annabelle's not the only one with a few fantasies. Mike has been dreaming of stripping her out of her prim clothing and getting her into his bed, and when the opportunity arises, he grabs at the chance. Soon they're heating up the sheets, and each other, with steamy sexual interludes.
While Annabelle is luxuriating in their no-strings secret affair, Mike is longing for something more permanent—like exploring the exhilarating heights of passion as man and wife.

Review: This is the first in a series entitled Summersville Secret by an author I am falling for. I have read most of another series by her and fully intend to post something about that it here. NJ Walters has the ability to not only draw the reader in but light 'em up. This story is just as hot as the Southern summer it is set in. The reader gets hot, bothered and steamed up. Yet, there is a semblance of emotions here. While I have reread this story, I still am unsure about the mental tickings of either character. Why is Annabelle so afraid? Why does she think no man will want her? Why, why, WHY?! It is a hard sell to this reader. There isn't enough emotional depth and full backgrond layout to fully understand. Of course, the author fully explains what she does but there is not that dig down to the roots and rip it out sort of thing. Annabelle only had one experience with a guy in college (one night stand?) and is now 30. How is that a basis for this fear? Dunno, may the author doesn't know either and just wanted to write a story about a reluctant heroine and a besotted hero. Going past this sticky wicket, you get a highly sensual tale with a wonderful hero who can make even the most reluctant "quite a handful" of curvy heroine fell more beautiful about herself. I highly recommend that anyone read this keeper of a tale.

WHERE THE HELL HAVE I BEEN

I'll tell you where: grad school. Yep, kicked my ass right up on my shoulders. Haven't had much time to pee, let alone read a good book. Papers, research, lesson plans, blah, blah, etc. Also, there has been next to nothing in the rubenesque/bbw categories of e-book publishers released. I do have a tentative list of books that I have scraped together that I am going to review in the next couple of months.

Also, I have had lap-band surgery. My ass was the size of Texas, seriously I had to have beeping horns and flashing lights just to get around. Honestly, though, at my weight, something had to be done. PCOS was not helping my efforts. I mean it took me a year to lose 25 pounds. I have lost that since my surgery at the end of March. That's right, I am now under 300 pounds and close to my second weight loss goal. I'm so happy. But be warned, this is a drastic, hard, difficult thing to do-it is not easy to live with. You have to have a commitment to the restrictions of the band and give up a lot of the things you probably love. I am still transitioning and learning. It is very overwhelming.

Back to the books. I hope to review the following books over the summer:
XKay Stockham-His Son's Teacher--found here
Sherrilyn Kenyon-Night Play
Francesca Hawley-Whirlwind Affair
Flesa Black-Big, Bad Wolf
Rita Allen-You Have Been Disconnected
Melinda Barron-Search Me Baby, One More Time
Lisa Kleypas-Mine Till Midnight
Teresa Mederios-The Bride and the Beast
Michele Ann Young-The Lady Flees Her Lord
Erin McCarthy-Houston, We Have A Problem
Hannah Murray-Knockout
And plenty more. Note these may not all fall into BBW gal category, but still their extra curviness is noted when describing their appearance, ie unfashionably curvy, overweight, etc.