Whirlwind by Bailey BradfordMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Whirlwind
was a fun and sexy way to round out the Southern Spirits series. I don’t know that the author has ended the series officially, but as it’s been a couple of years since this installment’s original release and no new characters were introduced as potential leading men, I’m assuming this is the final book in the series and I must say that Bradford certainly went out with a blast. After Conner found love in Ascension, it was only fitting that our other long-term and interactive spirit, Stefan, find his happiness in the ever after. And Stefan’s tale reads like the best case of karma ever. In life, Stefan was born with brain damage that resulted in him having both mental and physical delays. In Aftermath we learned that his condition contributed to his being murdered because he fell prey to a high school bully who used him sexually and then tricked him into going to the place of his murder. However, in death, Stefan was no longer afflicted as his limitation had been physical and the lack of a corporeal body equated a “normal” existence in the spirit world. This “new” and “improved” Stefan made for an extremely entertaining first encounter with Jordan and Gideon, two recently deceased soldiers who traveled to McKinton to be near Jordan’s mother. Once the three men deal with their initial misunderstanding and spend a little time together, the sparks fly and Stefan finds himself in the best place possible – between Jordan and Gideon. But when Jordan’s mom lets out a secret that sends Jordan into hiding out of fear from the fallout, Stefan once again finds himself alone and on the outside looking in. The knowledge of what he’s missing out on leads Stefan to make some rather poor choices that have him questioning if there are indeed things worse than death and heartbreak. Fortunately for Stefan, the most important men in his death are well trained and adore him, and have no qualms about putting themselves between Stefan and the danger he’s courting.
I absolutely loved this installment. It’s no secret that a well written ménage is one of my favorite types of relationships to read about and Bradford did a wonderful job creating a fledgling relationship between Jordan, Gideon and Stefan and then building upon it. There is some serious heat among this trio and their ability to ignore the laws of physics made for some scorchingly hot sex scenes. I also enjoyed how she handled Stefan’s disability and the explanation for his life and death differences seemed quite feasible. Conner’s continued presence as a protector in Stefan’s life was perfect and made sense as Conner always saw Stefan as a kid due to his age at death, and not his disability because Conner didn’t know Stefan when he was alive. Whirlwind was an extremely enjoyable read and as much as I hate to see the end of the series, I like how the author brought it to a resolution with all of the main players having their stories told. Fortunately for me, Bradford has many, many other series for me to read.
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Reviewed by Angela at Crystal's Many Reviewers!
Check out the Whirlwind (Southern Spirits #8) by Bailey Bradford blog post on Crystal's Many Reviewers.
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. I have yet to read one of Petrova’s books and not love it. What did surprise me was the fact that I really didn’t care for Skye. I have a problem with people – male or female – whose knee-jerk response/accusation is that their partner is cheating on them, especially when there is nothing to support it. There is a big difference between a flirt who has a smile and compliment for others and a lech who makes passes by touching, caressing, and engaging in suggestive language. Booker is a flirt and nothing that goes down in the present or their conversations and memories about the past indicate that he was a lech. So while I felt badly for the situation that Skye found herself in – and by no means do I absolve Booker on his failure to do what he should have – she created it with her mistrust and insecurities. I do give her props for her decision to track him down and even more when she decided to avail herself of his employers’ services. What red-blooded heterosexual female doesn’t want a hedonistic week with her very own cowboy…or two?
ended up (no pun intended) being a much sweeter read than I expected. As we’re dealing with two college freshmen, one of whom was new to sex, I was expecting the obligatory angst, a butt load of sex (still, no pun intended), and just a little bit of romance. Harris does angst well as Frankie sets out to help his roommate, Jeremy, navigate the perils of dating and sex. Fortunately, the author does not go over-the-top with the angst as Frankie finds himself getting far more attached to Jeremy than he expected. After all, how can a relationship ever work between two bottoms with no interest in topping?
is an interesting combination of two super-hot vampires, sexy fun times, an erotic love triangle, and a sweet romance, all set during the Christmas season. When presented that way, I wouldn’t expect it to work. Yet Smith combined all those elements with a sad but sassy heroine and created a novella that I not only enjoyed immensely, but left me hoping that the next book in the series (and thank you for making this a series) will bring us more of the trio’s story.
reaffirmed my faith in the author’s ability to write books that are related to others without you having to read all of the prior ones in a series (or the series it spun off of). That said, as a fan of Bradford’s work I do hope to go back at some point to read the Love in Xxchange series as I can only imagine just how hot it is.
is, as the warning states, a rather vanilla ménage. That said, it was a fun and light-hearted read. There are no deep childhood issues or severely damaged characters within. What we have is a pair of very free-spirited identical twins and the sexually conservative wife of the oldest, and the story of how they gradually expand her sexual horizons. While I enjoy MFM ménages, I liked that there was an additional non-sexual reason why David wanted his brother to sleep with his wife. The sexual conversations and interactions were steamy and the book was enjoyable. This was not a deep, thought provoking read but it was what I needed after the last book I read; plus I picked it up for 99¢ and certainly got my money's worth.
I was in and out of the mood for dark books. For the last month (possibly longer) I haven’t had any interest in reading books featuring dark subject matter and as this book neared the top of my schedule, I worried that I wouldn’t be able to do it justice. Heck, I even read another book out of order on my schedule to delay reading Theirs to Take because I wasn’t ready to face it. No one wants to read a book in a genre that they’re not feeling at the moment, especially when a review is expected, and I really don’t like to do it because it’s not fair to the author. So it was with great trepidation that I queued it up on my Kindle last night. 
is the solidly written sequel to Dark Indiscretions. Like the first novel, it is dialogue heavy, action packed, and contains one seriously hot sex scene. The focus of this installment is Krista and how she deals with the torture that was inflicted upon her by her father and her relationship with her two mates. 
is a fast-paced and entertaining paranormal novel. Even though Jenny and her daughter Krista find their mates, it's not really a romance. It's more of an action novel with a couple of good sex scenes thrown in and the mating scene between Jenny and her mates was hot! The book is heavy on the dialogue and the characters' inner thoughts, a feat which Ms. Johnson pulled off well, as I never once got confused as to who was speaking or thinking. Some authors cannot write dialogue-heavy books, but it served the author well and she used it successfully to keep the action and story moving forward. 
, we find out how the first Kalquorian clan we ever met was formed. Yes, this is the story of Clan Rajhir – the men who became the first to take an Earther as their Matara after discovering that they were genetically compatible. Let me tell you folks, this was a treat to read for me. 
was first released. I wasn’t really into M/M romances at the time, but the clans that Kalquorians formed was an intriguing concept and I was interested in their backstories. It’s quite possible that To Clan and Conquer was one of my early forays into M/M romances and when I reread this book, I enjoyed it even more as I have since become a huge fan of man-on-man action, especially aggressive man-on-man-on-man action – something the Kalquorians excel at.
may just be the most action-packed installment in the series to-date, or at least on level with Alien Salvation and the aftermath of Earth’s self-inflicted Armageddon. Which is rather appropriate as it also brings Dramok Diltan back on the scene as a potential suitor for another of the Empress Jessica’s relatives – Cissy Salter. As I haven’t read Alien Salvation in quite a while, Diltan’s name didn’t ring any bells until the incident between him and Lindsey is brought up and boy did I remember him then. So between Diltan’s past encounter with Lindsey, his unwanted attraction to the brash and in-your-face Cissy, the uncovering of the secrets regarding the original abduction of Earther Mataras (pay close attention to the Prelude to a Scandal pre-chapter), and the Kalquor people on the brink of civil war, Alien Indiscretions was a page-turner of epic proportions and not because of its length.
is one of the few Clans of Kalquor books I’ve only read once…until now. That actually has nothing to do with the book itself, but more that prior to reviewing for the blog my reading tended to go in cycles by genre and I didn’t hit another sci-fi erotica read-a-thon before being recruited to review. So it was with immense glee that I jumped at the chance to reread Alien Caged this month. Sci-fi erotica is my favorite genre and St. John’s Kalquorians are one of my favorite of the alien races. How can you go wrong with a race that forms a clan of three men who hold their woman so dear that she is practically worshipped by them? Add to that the Kalquorian men’s anatomical advantage over earth men and said woman is in for the pleasure of her life.
gives fans of the series the chance to spend a day with the trio as they go shopping for the perfect dishes for their first Thanksgiving dinner as a family. We get to witness the care that Henry takes as he prepares Alice and Jay for their day out. The usual banter between Jay and Alice is present as is the Henry's steadying presence. The sexual tension between the three is obvious as they make their way into yet another antique store, but it is Jay's pleasure at finding the perfect dishes and at the praise he receives from Henry that is most palpable. That is, until they arrive home and Henry choreographs a stunningly erotic scene between the three of them to fulfill the promise of his all-day foreplay. Despite the short length of this story, Ms. Barber continues to stay true to her characters and who they are as individuals as well as who they are within their ménage dynamic. I do not recommend reading Three-Way Tie as a standalone because to fully appreciate it, you need to be familiar with the trio and what they have faced to get to where they are in their relationship. But if you are a fan of the series, spend the buck and buy this novelette. I got it as a Prime borrow for the month and will be purchasing it so that I can read it again whenever I need a quick Alice, Jay, and Henry fix.
is the first book of the series, it does not end with a cliffhanger that makes you want to throw your Kindle across the room. The issues I had with the first third of the book have more to do with my personal reading style than the author's writing, because once I connected to the characters, I couldn't stop reading. I look forward to reading the next book in the series.
features my favorite type of ménage relationship – one woman with two bisexual men. I haven’t read many novels in which the two men have a prior relationship and are reunited by the woman between them and the few I have were a bit awkward and rather angsty considering that the characters tended to be in their late twenties or older. So I wasn’t sure how well it would play out. But having read Ms. Elsborg before and having enjoyed her writing immensely, I was quick to grab this one and I am oh so very glad I did.
we are treated to Roni’s story. Because this is the third book and Roni is a bartender at Shadows and has been in the previous books, I knew what she was and what it meant for her to be a changer as we have met her preferred male and female forms before. But knowing that Roni is a changer doesn’t mean that Roni wasn’t a mystery because she has been a woman of few words despite her constant presence and we find out rather quickly, that there’s a lot about her that she hasn’t told her Shadows family about.
was a quick and sexy read as Carolyn finds out that her two best friends may want more than just friendship. When Carolyn gets dumped by her current boyfriend via text [insert nasty derogatory thought about boyfriend], she calls in Grady and Ben to accompany her to an important social outing so that she doesn’t have to face her ex alone. Because of the conversations between Grady and Ben that the reader is privy to, it was not a surprise that they did so nor that they were more than happy to play mind games with her ex when he acts like a jerk during the party. And while the public make-out session was hot, Carolyn fled the party to go home alone because she couldn’t bear finding out whether or not the guys meant it – and she wasn’t sure which answer she really wanted.
and this time he’s brought backup. After the hot mess of a client he was with in Filthy for the Night, it was really nice to see him spend time with someone who is actually deserving of his attention and appreciates the extra touches that Logan provides. In this installment Logan’s long-time client Ava has requested a ménage with Logan and another male, but without double penetration. To help fulfill her fantasy, he contracts with a younger gigolo he knows and trusts – Trey – and they proceed to spend the night making Ava’s fantasy come true; spectacularly so as Ava gets so caught up in the evening’s festivities that she takes the ménage farther than she ever expected. And I loved every page of it.