|
Rating:  - Rated: X-Mas
Greatly enjoyed most of the stories in this book. The one with the hermaphrodite was not to my taste but the story line was interesting. I would recommend this book for the other stories.
Rating: - Rated: X-Mas
Shannon McNal is scared. Someone is killing hermaphrodites, and she is frightened that she's going to be next. Unfortunately, her protectors are only making it worse, tying her up in knots over her attraction for them both. This is completely horrid timing, especially when she finds out they already are a couple. Besides, even if they were single, she doesn't think either would be interested in a relationship with her.
Detectives Tannamae Jones and Fergus DeSoto are determined to stick to Shannon, even though they realize that their presence is making her uncomfortable. The more they find out about her, the more drawn to her they are.
Placed together, the three are starting to have less than pure thoughts about each other. The more time they spend together, the more Tanny, Fergus and Shannon become closer. Unfortunately, there is still someone out there who wants to hurt Shannon in the worst possible way. Is it possible for these three to resolve their relationship and keep Shannon safe?
Christmas Noir is, quite simply, a stunning combination of heat, emotion and suspense. Shannon is an incredibly relatable character; all of her feelings are understandable and served to draw me into the story. I fell in love with her struggles, her feelings of loneliness and her happiness and joy when she realized that she might be able to get what she wants. Christmas Noir is a must-read for anyone looking for something different.
Publisher's Notes: This book contains content that may be offensive to some readers: m/f/m ménage; m/m sexual contact. Christmas Noir was previously released in last year's Rated X-mas anthology. As one of the stories in the anthology is no longer available, Christmas Noir has been broken out for individual sale.
Shannon
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed
Rating: - These authors put the X in Rated X-mas!
Anything with a tag line by these three authors is worth picking up and this book is no exception. Rachel Bo's signature heat is more than evident in her contribution to this anthology, Twice Blessed. Damien, Jenny and Devlin are hot enough to melt the snow as the werewolves find their mate in a woman they've chased for seven years. Before this anthology, I'd read Jet Mykles' Dark Elves series and knew what to expect. Even with that warning, I was blown away by her story. Can we say:XXX? Bring ice and a towel when you sit down to read this one. Last, but far from least, Barbara Karmazin gives us a very different story in Christmas Noir. Barbara likes to push the edge. Her characters are believable and thoroughly researched. Her earlier work: The Huntress, has wone numerous awards and is highly regarded in the eBook community as well as the trade print cycles. Her aliens are more than humans with funny eyes. So when she created Shannon, a hermaphrodite, I knew I would see a person fully fleshed out and "real". I wasn't dissapointed. Shannon is more than a man who looks like a girl. She is both, and much more interesting than the ambiguous Pat! LOL There is an edgy, tense feel to this erotic murder mystery, that reminds one of early Moonlighting. Who can forget the lightning that flared between Cybil Shepherd and a young, sexy Bruce Willis? In all, this anthology is worth every penny. All the stories were different enough that I enjoyed reading cover to cover without a break.
Excellent work, authors!
Rating: - A different kind of loving
[Note: This review is of the original electronic edition. The Jet Mykles story is not reviewed. - JLC]
Twice Blessed by Rachel Bo - Jenny is on her way to Los Angeles to start her new career in costuming. While driving down the highway in her red Mustang convertible, she becomes overheated in the hot Arizona sun. Rather than stopping to remove her bra she decides to take it off while she is driving - and loses hold of it in the wind. Wouldn't you know! The bra lands on the windshield of the only other vehicle in sight, a blue pickup truck driven by two gorgeous, blue-eyed young men...
Christmas Noir by Barbara Karmazin - In the late 21st century, Shannon McNal is the President of the Herm Foundation. This is an organization that upholds the rights of hermaphrodites, enabling them to live as their true selves rather than undergo surgery to attempt to make them male or female. This mission is anathema to a small group of religious fanatics who are attempting to prevent the Foundation from doing its work by picketing and chanting outside the Foundation's building and the herms' living quarters. Now the harassment has gone far beyond picketing into murder of an employee of the Herm Foundation. Detectives Tanny Jones and Fergus DeSoto are assigned to act as Shannon's bodyguards and stay with her at all times. Will they be able to solve the case before another person is killed?
The stories in this anthology have two themes in common in that each story takes place at Christmastime, and that each plot concerns a ménage à trois. In most other respects, they are very different. Twice Blessed is a shape shifter/paranormal/contemporary romance involving one woman and two men, and Christmas Noir is a futuristic murder mystery/romance in which the lead characters are a man, a woman, and a hermaphrodite.
It is a special pleasure to read an anthology in which the stories are of such high quality. I tried to choose my favorite, but they were each so good that I was unable to choose between them. Each story has a different tone that reflects its author's special style, yet each is skillfully and tightly written. The lead characters in each story are carefully developed and lovingly detailed, so that each character seemed like a real person to me.
Because the theme of this anthology is love between three people instead of two, the many sex scenes are by definition not vanilla. Although most of the sex scenes contain male/female sex, many other styles of loving are involved. This book is not for people who are offended by male/male sexual contact, oral and anal sex, sexual contact with weres in animal form, interracial sex or hermaphroditism. In addition, Christmas Noir, being a murder mystery, contains some very graphic violence and gore. In each story, the language used to describe these scenes is explicit and graphic, and the anthology as a whole is rated "Scorching" by the publisher.
However, for those readers who like their romances sexually hot and mentally stimulating, I unreservedly give this book my highest recommendation! -- Jean, Fallen Angel Reviews (courtesy of Fallen Angel Reviews)
Rating: - Rated X-mas
I have this book and tremendously enjoyed all of the stories. All different from one another, all very hot, and all off the beaten path. I liked the way each author brought something new to the mix and found their individual voices refreshing. Christmas Noir was especially interesting because the author has obviously done a good deal of research to back up the story. These sort of background details bring it well above the norm of any futuristic romance stories in the market. I've read all these authors before and will definitely continue to look for their work.
|
