Review: Trouble With Harry by Myla Jackson

Author - Myla Jackson
Genre - Time Travel Erotic Romance
Series - Trouble #1
Format - Ebook (142p.)
Rating - 3.5/5 stars

In 1924 Harry, an adventurous archeologist, uncovers his greatest discovery-the tomb of the daughter of Shah Azhi "the devil king," containing the magical stone of Azhi. Legend tells of the stone's power to grant wishes. When Harry lays his hands on the prize, he's sucked into a bottle and stays there for over eighty years.

In the twenty-first century, lonely museum worker Edie Ragsdale has been tasked with cataloging the contents of a sarcophagus. Among the mummified remains of a long-dead princess, Edie finds a bottle. When she brushes away the dust of thousands of years, a naked Harry appears. Because she was the one to wake Harry from his long sleep, Edie is able to wish for anything her heart desires and Harry has to grant it. But when her wishes land her on the set of a porn film and the deck of a pirate ship with a hundred sex-starved pirates ready to teach her a few lessons on sex, Edie has to rely on handsome Harry to bail her out.

Come along for a sexy, rollicking romp and learn why you should be careful what you wish for…

~ What I Liked: I absolutely loved the humor in this book. There was a lot of laugh out loud moments that made this book just so much fun! It also made it easier to forgive some things that didn't always work for me that I will get to in a minute.

I also really enjoyed the storytelling along with the fast pace and the strong characters that were fleshed out extremely well. There's a strong possibility I'll read more from this author in the future. I can't remember how I discovered her, but I'm glad I did. Despite the issues I had with this book. Explanation ↓.

~ What I Didn't Like: I had some issues with quite a few things. First was a major pet-peeve of mine; unprotected sex. I don't give a shit if he's from the past, he can still get her pregnant and she can still give him HIV. It made Edie irresponsible and stupid and I didn't care for her at all after that (her pity-parties didn't help her case either).

I also didn't care for how she went from insecure fragile little virgin to confident exhibitionist having sex in front of people with no care about who watches… and in the case of the library sex, any child that is doing school research. Did I mention how irresponsible and stupid she was?

Another problem I had with Edie was her non-reaction to the almost-rapes on the ship and porn set. I had several more problems with her, but suffice it to say, she belly-flopped into the TSTL pool. Pretty ironic since she constantly reiterates how smart and independent she is.

Some other issues are the biology lesson the author takes us through during the smexy times. That got really annoying really fast. And there's also the incorrect word usage. Seriously? People still haven't learned spellcheck won't fix a wrong word spelled confetti (correctly~ I see what you did there…)? And the ending was so bad it almost made me wish I had never read the book. To say it was rushed and incomplete would be an understatement. So disappointing.

~ Final Analysis: A fun and funny beach read that was enjoyable for the most part. The humor is the life-support for this book though. I wouldn't have liked it without that. Right up until the end I was set to give this book a 5 star rating as well, but the ending (or lack thereof) means I don't want this to be a keeper to reread, so 3.5 stars for the entertainment factor.

★★★½

Review: Double Dare by Rhonda Nelson

Author - Rhonda Nelson
Genre - Contemporary
Series - N/A
Format - Ebook (268p.)
Rating - 3.5/5 stars

Runaway bride Louisa Honeycut is looking for a quick escape when she passes the Double Dare, Inc sign and the slogan "Are you ready for the time of your life?" seems like divine intervention. Sheltered by her overbearing father, Louisa has years of catching up to do and can think of no better person than gorgeous Sam Rawlins to show her. Is she ready for the time of her life? Hell, yes.

~ What I Liked: I absolutely loved the humor in DOUBLE DARE. This was a fun and quirky off-the-wall read that, for the most part, was very enjoyable. I also liked the pacing. As the story started, I really liked the main characters Sam and Lou… but not for long unfortunately.

~ What I Didn't Like: I didn't care for Lou by the 25% mark. And I didn't feel she was deserving of a HEA. She was too selfish and childish to appreciate it IMO. Sam was a little better, but I thought he was a tool ultimately. Now, what I really really didn't like (and was a huge tipping point in regards to the lower grade) was the atrocious editing. I have never seen such a horrible display of improper word usage before. Whoever the author used to proofread DOUBLE DARE needs to be fired… or something, because this was seriously B.A.D. Not at first, but certainly in the last 35%. For that reason, I'll probably be a little apprehensive about trying anything from this author again. And finally, the ending seemed too abrupt and way too tidy. Sam and Lou will probably need divorce lawyers before their one-year anniversary.

~ Final Analysis: DOUBLE DARE was enjoyable despite the negatives. It was a nice escape, that had me laughing out loud several times. Light-hearted, fast-paced and a good story. Had it been properly edited, I feel it would have been an easy 4 or 5 stars.

★★★½