Sommer Marsden

Lost in You by Sommer Marsdenis a sweet yet passion-filled romance between two unlikely lovers. Clover Brite and Dorian Martin come from completely different worlds, but neither can resist their smoking hot desire. Both are carrying their fair share of emotional baggage and their promising relationship is threatened by Clover's insecurities.

Although Clover is the project manager for a renovation of one of Dorian's properties, the two meet for the first time during a super-storm. Trapped at the mall by the weather, there is an immediate attraction between them. Clover is quite flustered at first, but Dorian soon puts her at ease and pretty soon the two are indulging in some scorching hot sex. But once she and Dorian return to real life, Clover's issues jeopardize their fragile relationship.

Insta-lust is rarely a firm foundation for a new relationship and in Lost in You, Clover and Dorian learn this difficult lesson fairly quickly. They are likable characters in the beginning, but once reality sets in, they become quite frustrating at times. Clover is young, but she has a heightened sense of responsibility which is a good thing for her career, but this spells disaster for her personal life. She also has unresolved issues stemming from her childhood and coupled with her awareness of the social differences between her and Dorian, she is quick to assume there is no future for them.

Dorian is handsome, charming and refreshingly down to earth. He is in his mid-twenties and he is working hard overcome his playboy, party image. He never comes across as a snob or class conscious, so Clover's reaction to the differences between them has no basis in reality and he never gives up on trying to convince her to give them a chance. He always remains a likable character but his pursuit of Clover becomes a little manipulative at times. It is a real turning point when he finally stops pursuing Clover and leaves the future of their relationship in her hands.

Although Dorian and Clover are sometimes exasperating, the secondary cast of characters is superb. Clover's grandmother and surrogate aunt Brani are absolutely wonderful. Their scenes are warm and witty and neither of them put up with Clover's negativity. Older and wiser, their advice to Clover is spot on and thankfully, she finally begins to listen to them.

Sommer Marsden beautifully redeems both characters into well-rounded, appealing characters and Lost in You concludes with a highly romantic and deliciously steamy happily ever ending that readers are going to love.… (meer)

An interesting concept, mixing end-of-the-world doomsday settings with erotica. Unfortunately for me, I found the settings more titilating than the erotica. I wanted more backstory on a few of the entries in this anthology, would like to hear more about either how the apocalyptic events started or continued. The sex was okay...I guess I'm a bit pedestrian in my tastes so the action with two guys wasn't doing much for me, other than some mild interest, but the lesbians were okay, desire-wise. But sex is hard to write so kudos for the effort here, and while i didn't really get my rocks off, i appreciated the attempts.… (meer)

I received 'Lust in the Dust' through the LibraryThing Early Reviewer Program.

'Lust in the Dust' is a collection of erotic short stories with an end-of-times or post-apocalyptic theme. The variety comes in the way that the various authors have interpreted that mandate.

The collection includes gay, lesbian and straight sex, and variations upon those. There are fantastic other times, zombies, empty cities and a smattering of religion.

There were stories I enjoyed more than others, mainly for their setting, or an unusual idea that was developed. 'First Contact' which takes place in the wilderness of northern Canada, uses an interesting device to tell the story, as both protagonists speak in the first person. 'Checkout Girl' is a piece of clever science fiction writing, where the author has taken one thing that is familiar to the reader and then changed it dramatically. The result is confronting and sympathetic.

As with all erotica, the proof is in the reaction of the reader, and for that reason, I rate this collection as 9 o'clock (think about it).… (meer)

****Please note I won this book for free from a Goodreads Giveaway*****

I haven't really read much erotica in the past few years, so I figured I would enter this giveaway on a whim. Surprisingly, I won, and I'm glad it was this book that I won.

This has an interesting mix of stories with all sorts of scenarios. The stories are well written. The author knows how to change up her scenes and doesn't repeat the same words and phrases over and over which I really appreciated.

The range of stories is unique, from two men being together, two women, threesomes, couples rediscovering themselves, and even a bit of comedic paranormal thrown in. The last story is also the perfect way to end this collection. It was the perfect blend of rough around the edges and sweet.

The only thing I didn't care for was that there were a lot of stories in this with domination. They were good, definitely, but domination isn't to my personal taste so these stories made me a bit uncomfortable.

Overall a good read and I would definitely read this author again.… (meer)