Mini-Reviews: Saint Kate of the Cupcake / White Collared

Series: Standalone

Genre: Women's Fiction

Publisher: Omnific

Publication Date: 3/25/14

Format: ebook

Pages: 210

Source: Publisher

Rating: 2.5 - 3 stars

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Kate Winters has become the perfect aristocratic wife and mother in her adopted homeland of Great Britain. She manages her husband’s cold, demanding family while armed with a grudging Stepford smile and a proper strand of pearls. When her precious boys go away to boarding school and her absentee husband leaves this “domestic goddess” to her own devices, she ends up baking…a lot. Her newfound passion for the kitchen quickly turns her prim and proper life upside down when her cookbooks become best-sellers and she finds herself in talks for a TV deal.

 

 

After Kate’s new celebrity life seems to have settled into one that's familiar, if not happy, Anders Larsen throws her for a loop. Anders is not only the leading man in Kate’s favorite TV show, he’s also Hollywood's hottest commodity and the star of her most secret erotic fantasies. One night with Anders turns into so much more, causing her perfectly manicured grip to slip, and she begins to lose control of her buttoned up life. It was only supposed to be one night, but the off-the-charts chemistry and amazing sex are temptations Kate can’t resist.

 

 

She begins to believe she can balance this double life until rumors of her sexy affair surface on the Internet. Kate has a choice to make: return to her safe but stale marriage—and her best chance for saving her new career—or taking a chance on the life she could have with the man she loves.

 

 

What price is “Saint Kate of the Cupcake” willing to pay for a chance at happiness?

 

 

My Thoughts

 

This is a brave book. A heroine who jumps into an extramarital affair isn't exactly an easy sell. There are several authors who've made me understand and sympathize, and to be honest, I was never fully sold on this in Saint Kate. But, it's not exactly the Kate's story that didn't sell me, but the way it was told.

 

It's hard for me to briefly explain this, but here goes. The narrative employed a lot of telling versus showing. I was told how Kate felt, and her reasons for the affair, but never experienced a lot the emotions throughout much of the book. I felt like a lot of aspects were implied. I was told her husband was distant, but didn't really see it. I didn't feel the aching loneliness. We do get more details about her marriage later, and a big revelation about the husband, but I never understood why so much was withheld for so long. It felt like too little, too late.

 

What I liked most about Saint Kate was Anders, the man she fell in love with, and was on board with the affair. I know that sounds weird, but he was a nice man who fell in love. And prepared to go the distance.

 

I do want to warn, though, there's a sexual assault towards the end. It wasn't heavily detailed, but almost felt manipulative. So those who are sensitive to that should go in with the heads-up.

 

 

So in the end, I really wanted to love Saint Kate of the Cupcake, but I ended up liking most of it. The first half was slow and lacked a heavy emotional punch. The second half was a lot better, because the emotions were there and we finally get more details about Kate's marriage and her life with and without Anders.

 

 

I don't whole-heartedly recommend this book, but I did end up liking aspects. The ending was very nice, with an epilogue that made me smile.

Series: White Collared #1

Genre: Erotic Romance

Publisher: Avon Impulse

Publication Date: 6/3/14

Format: eARC

Pages: 100

Source: Publisher

Rating: 2.5 stars

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The first sexy installment in Shelly Bell's four-part serialized erotic thriller about a young law student who must go undercover at a sex club to prove her client is not guilty of murder.

 

Driven by ambition …Third-year law student Kate Martin outran her tragic past to become an intern for her idol and secret crush, the powerful attorney Nicholas Trenton. She is thrilled when Nick assigns her to represent his best friend and client, millionaire Jaxon Deveroux … the prime suspect in his submissive wife Alyssa's murder.

 

Seduced by desire …Kate knows they have only a few days to find the real killer, and since signs point to a member of the BDSM community, she volunteers to go undercover as Jaxon's submissive at Benediction—the private sex club where he is a member—to covertly investigate Alyssa's last few months. For years, Kate has kept her dark fantasies a secret … but a chance to explore them with sexy, dominant Jaxon is just too tempting to pass up. 
 
 

My Thoughts 

I love serialized novellas, so was anxious to start the White Collared series. Guys, it just didn't work for me. This was due to my lack of being able to suspend disbelief. First we have a law intern being assigned to represent a high-powered millionaire who's accused of murdering his wife. Okay, I didn't go to law school, but really? Could that really happen? I have a couple of attorneys in the family, but was afraid they would laugh at me if I asked them about this. Another thing is, the heroine, the aforementioned intern attorney, also goes undercover with the defendant to his BDSM club to uncover the true murderer. Sounds like solid logic. To be fair, she has apparently read FSoG multiple times so she's boned-up on all aspects of BDSM. Then there's the whole chemistry she shares with both her boss and the defendant. It was just a clusterfuck in my (apparently crabby) opinion. And lastly, the guilty party. I guessed whom that person was at the beginning, but that "Nah, that's too obvious." I finished the first installment, not super excited, but willing to give part two a try. Then I continued to be annoyed, skipped to the end of the series to see if I was right. I was. That just burned me up so I dnf'd the series.

 

 

I don't know. If I was into BDSM, I would be severely annoyed by a lot of the fictionalized representations of the community.

 

 

On the plus side, the writing was really good. So there's that.

 

 

 

So. Have you read either of these books? Did you love them? Hate them? Think I'm way off base here? Let me know!