The book cover is gorgeous, the book title delicious making you hunger for a good read. You’ll love to get lost in this quick leap into fun and frustration from the very first chapter with great beginnings that lure you right in like a fish on a line. The hotty hero stirs your embers from behind, in front, and anywhere else you care to look at him from the start. Humor abounds as cute klutz dating dashing jerk falls fast for his sensitive handsome hick brother on first sight in a big splash of heat.

Action and scenery fly slowly by at a moderate pace as Elizabeth (Beth) Runnels heads to her best friend Susan’s family ranch, who just happens to be her fiancé’s sister. However, since she’s there to end her unsatisfying and verbally abusive relationship with the woman’s brother, she runs a gamut of guilt until her friend reads between the lines and figures it out for herself.

Drawn to Billy Byrd, Beth can’t help but fall for his sweet charm and sexy body. The chemistry between the two is palpable right from the start, yet the five senses could use a little oopmph! One can feel her mixed emotions as she sets about plans to dump one, and lusts after the other brother, fears of losing her best friend foreshadowing her tumultuous thoughts.

She does give in a bit too quickly. It could have used a little more sexual tension build up before she literally ‘fell’ into his arms. The barn scene was titillating when, even though she has no plans to escape him, Billy uses his ‘tools’ to harness her desire. There’s nothing like a little ‘vet’ talk while being examined by a hunk and a half.

The fact that the parents and the sister are good with keeping Beth in the family makes for a heartwarming tale of a happily ever after.

All at once romantic, bittersweet, and forbidden, this romance will make you ache for fulfillment not only of sensuality, but of the heart. It earns 3.5 cherries for the excellent writing, though the heat could be turned up a bit.

~ Reviewed by Ambrosia, Long and Short Reviews

 
 
Being an expatriate of the Deep South, I simply couldn’t resist when I saw Carolyn Gregg’s novella Chicken Fried Beefcake. Because, well, there’s just nothing like a good ole boy on his best behavior. Assuming that he’s not demanding you fetch him a beer or make him a sandwich, of course. In this story, Ms. Gregg takes all the good qualities that you could ever want in a good ole boy – tight jeans, cowboy boots, quiet confidence, kindness, intelligence, and oh did I mention tight jeans? – and rolls them up into one fabulous package by the name of Billy.

In Beth, Ms. Gregg gives us a heroine who is likeable even if she seems somewhat lacking in the common sense department. Beth is incredibly clumsy, but I think that part of her clumsiness is a self-fulfilling prophesy. She expects to trip up, therefore she does. She is very “good” in a bumbling kind of way, and while I couldn’t quite figure out why she felt the need to break up with her fiancé in front of his parents (perhaps because she likes the parents better than the fiancé?), I had no doubt that she believed it was the right and honest thing to do. In addition, Ms. Gregg does a wonderful job making Wyatt an obnoxious jerk that the reader can revile. He is so over-the-top that it is not particularly believable; however, he does make a perfect foil for the almost angelic Billy.

Billy is the anti-Wyatt: sexy and gentle with a playfulness to him that is immensely appealing. After having lived in a borderline abusive relationship with her soon-to-be-ex fiancé, Beth needs some of that gentleness and a lot of his sexual adventure. The sex scenes between these two truly do steal the show in this story; they are sensual enough to curl your toes and will most likely have you reaching for the fan to cool off. They are spontaneous and uninhibited and definitely fun. Although it may require a bit of a stretch of the imagination to believe that Beth and Billy can fall in love almost overnight, they definitely prove themselves to be compatible.

Overall, I found Chicken Fried Beefcake to be cute and sexy and fun. It made me root for Billy and Beth to find their happily-ever-after and for Wyatt (boo, hiss) to receive some sort of comeuppance. In fact, this story almost makes me want my very own pet redneck. I wonder if I’d have to travel all the way to West Texas in order to find one?
~ Reviewed by Bobby "BD" Whitney, Book Wenches