This last week I finished:

Jenna Black’s The Devil Inside – This book was an unexpected surprise for me. I’d heard wildly varying reviews but in the end, I really enjoyed the book.

I liked the worldbuilding a great deal and I’m really looking forward to the next book!

I wanted to add something about the sex in the books – mainly about the BDSM in the books. I’ve seen several comments about how it’s unncessary and makes no sense. But that’s not true.

In the world Black has created, demons, in their plane of existence, are incorporeal. They can’t *feel* anything physical. So when you’ve got one posessing a human, they can feel in ways they hadn’t before or at least in a long time. To me, it makes TOTAL sense that some of those demons would be attracted to BDSM as a way to experience physical sensation.

As for “graphic” sex scenes, I suppose graphic is in the perception of the readers but I write and read graphic sex all the time. The sex in the book was certainly described, but the scenes were not long to be honest, and they were in context.

Judith Ivory’s The Proposition – I totally dug the hero being a ratcatcher! And I liked Winnie as a heroine, smart but resigned to her place in life as an invisible person essentially because she wasn’t really marriagable. Ivory handles this incredibly well and I thought it really thought provoking.

At the same time, the sexual chemistry between Mick and Winnie is like whoa off the charts. He is honorable but by god he wants her. I loved that. And I love the way she grabbed experience and life with both hands. The end was a bit too neatly tied up, but in truth, well it’s a romance and I don’t know that it would have really worked otherwise.

Carolyn Jewel’s My Wicked Enemy – holy wow! I’m so lucky lately with such great worldbuilding in the books I’ve picked up. I’m already a fan of Jewel from her Crimson City books but this world of fiends and mages is fascinating and wicked sexy.

One of my favorite cliches is opposites – I adore it! Here we’ve got the self assured, uber powerful and totally sexypants Nikodemus sworn enemy to magekind and witches like Carson. And Carson, a woman whose power has been stolen from her in an incredibly insidious way. She’s been sheltered and abused and is totally naive.

But whatever they have totally works on the page. I believed their chemistry and I totally love the world Jewel has created here. Great meta-mythology here, sexy too. Well written action and suspense. A total winner.

Speaking of bookgasms – did you know Candace Havens’ Charmed and Ready is now available in mass market paperback?

Gorgeous cover, huh? Go Berkley.

Blurb: After spending most of her life single-practically an occupational hazard for a witch-Bronwyn’s finally found a sexy warlock to love. But it’s going to take more than a few love spells to keep him from getting jealous about her latest gig-protecting a rock star named Zane from the creepy Goth guys in cloaks who keep showing up at his concerts and zapping his mojo. Bronwyn would like nothing better than to blow them up in an inferno of Love That Red smoke, but they’re proving elusive. And in the meantime-what girl wouldn’t want to hang with the hottest man in music?

I’ve got Jenna Black’s next book, The Devil You Know also in my TBR stack along with some Kleypas and two historicals from Suzanne Enoch. I am so lucky!