Review: After Hours ~ Cara McKenna

After Hours
Cara McKenna
Contemporary Romance
Penguin/April 16, 2013

Erin Coffey has been a nurse for years, but nothing’s prepared her for the physical and emotional demands of her new position. Needing to move closer to her dysfunctional family, she takes a dangerous job at Larkhaven Psychiatric Hospital, where she quickly learns that she needs protection—and she meets the strong, over-confident coworker who’s more than willing to provide it.

Kelly Robak is the type of guy that Erin has sworn she’d never get involved with. She’s seen firsthand, via her mess of a sister, what chaos guys like him can bring into a woman’s life. But she finds herself drawn to him anyway, even when he shows up at her door, not eager to take no for an answer.

What Erin finds even more shocking than Kelly’s indecent proposal is how much she enjoys submitting to his every command. But he can’t play the tough guy indefinitely. If they want to have more than just an affair, both will have to open up and reveal what they truly need.

I'm not always certain what to expect from Cara McKenna. She writes such a diversity of characters, settings, and situations. But I'm always able to find something about her writing to relate to. If not something I've personally experienced, then something I can apply to my own experiences.

One of the ways McKenna differentiates her stories is by the characters careers. After Hours is different in that neither the hero nor heroine have high profile jobs. Erin is a nurse and Kelly is an orderly. Neither would be considered glamorous or well paying. But both Erin and Kelly have the desire to do their jobs well. The care they show to the patients, both while working and away from jobs, comes through in their actions and words. These broken, sometimes violent patients have a profound affect on Erin and Kelly and what they want out of life.

The heroine of Erin Coffey is, in my mind, a true heroine for what she does. Erin is a nurse and has taken a job at psychiatric hospital, not an easy gig by any means. It's an environment the author paints with vivid strokes, giving readers an idea of the work required to take care of and help these patients. Erin has no experience in this specific type of environment but she bravely jumps in, and finds she is thankful for the formidable presence of Kelly Robak.

Kelly Robak is an orderly. Not exactly the type of career we think of when thinking of heroes. But Kelly has the same qualities I look for in a hero. He's this gentle giant who knows when not to be so gentle. When he cares about someone, he cares deeply. He's smart even though he doesn't have a college degree. I loved how he treated Erin. He's honest, and tells her upfront what he expects from her. I would have liked Kelly's POV. He was such an interesting character, to get into his head would have been heaven.

The patients Erin and Kelly take care of are not the only ones who are broken. Both Erin and Kelly come from childhoods that are less than ideal. They each have trust issues and have this way of looking at life as if they don't dare to ask for too much, for fear of being disappointed. The way McKenna shows how Erin and Kelly deal differently with their troubles goes to how different these two characters are and how they compliment each other with those differences.

I have yet to read a novel by Cara McKenna that didn't have scorching love scenes. After Hours is no different. Erin and Kelly have chemistry from the first look but they are not teenagers who can't control their hormones. They do let their wild side come out in full force with no doubt as to how attracted they are to each other. But they also talk and enjoy each others' company like mature adults. I liked this side of them - the intelligence and cleverness of their talks. Intelligence is sexy.

It looks like another winner from Cara McKenna!

Rating: A

Review: Hard Time

Hard Time
Cara McKenna
Contemporary Romance
Penguin/April 15, 2014

My pounding heart went still, eerie as birds fallen silent in the wake of a gunshot.

He was big. Tall frame, wide shoulders-but not burly. His near-black hair was due for a cut, curling under his ears. Dark brows, dark stubble, dark lashes and eyes.

And he was handsome. So handsome it broke your heart.

A deck of cards was split between his hands, paused midshuffle. Some of the men wore navy scrub tops and bottoms, some navy tee shirts, a few white undershirts. This man wore a tee, with COUSINS stenciled on the front, above the number 802267. Those digits imprinted on my brain, burned black as a brand.

He watched me. But not the way the others did. If he was trying to picture me naked, his poker face was strong, though his attention anything but subtle. His entire head moved as I passed through his domain, but his eyes were languorous. Lazy and half-lidded, yet intense. A hundred looks in one. I didn't like it. Couldn't read it. At least with the horny jerk-offs, I knew where I stood. I wondered what the worst thing you could do and still only get sent to a medium-security prison was. I hoped not to ever learn the answer.

And I hoped to heaven inmate 802267 hadn't signed up for any of the day's programs.

So very different and so very good! It's not often romance readers get to see and experience the inside of a prison. As the story opens, librarian Annie Goodhouse is on her way to her first day at Cousins Correctional Facility. She, of course, is nervous. Who wouldn't be, knowing you will be in a room full of convicted criminals with only a handful of guards to protect you? But Annie wants to help and she's curious about the inmates. It's an environment not many outsiders have access to so there's bound to be some curiosity. There is also fear and trepidation. Annie has some doubts as to what she is doing and if she can really help any of these men.

Inmate 802267 catches Annie's eye right away. He stands out in a room full of dangerous men. It's the way he holds himself and the way he looks at her. Annie is very aware of his presence as Eric, inmate 802267, is very aware of her. Eric Collier has been locked up for five years on a ten year sentence. He's quiet, thoughtful but can be dangerous if pushed. I found Eric to be an interesting character but the interest, at the beginning, is more of how Annie reacts to Eric than Eric himself.

The first part of the story takes place at the prison while the rest takes place outside prison. I found the beginning to be more tense and intriguing. After the prison, the romance became far more similar to other "good girl/bad boy" romances. Annie believes in the good in Eric while Eric is still very aware of the bad in himself. It's not so much that he apologizes for himself but he doesn't think he's good enough for Annie and there were times when I agreed. He became less alpha and more subservient to Annie towards the ending.

The insight Annie give gives to her experiences in Cousins is revealing not only in what goes on in prisons but what an outsider is exposed to. Annie realizes some of her preconceptions are accurate while others, not so much.

Rating: A-

Review: Willing Victim

Willing Victim
Cara McKenna
Erotic
Ellora's Cave/August 2010

From the publisher's website ~

For the past couple of years Laurel's been coasting, hiding in the backseat while her life drifts off course. Then one summer afternoon a tall, built bruiser named Flynn strides in and steers her straight into an infatuation she never saw coming.

Flynn introduces Laurel to things she's never imagined - to the violent but exciting realm of the underground boxing circuit, to rough sex and even rougher role-playing, and to an attraction she craves even as it intimidates her. As Flynn invites her deeper into his world and his life, Laurel has to make a choice - let fear keep her holed up where it's safe, or take a chance and fight for the man who makes her feel more alive than she'd dreamed possible.

Reader Advisory: Although all sex acts are 100-percent consensual, Willing Victim contains role-playing scenarios that may upset some readers who are sensitive about rape, even in a simulated capacity.

First off, please head the advisory above. I found Willing Victim to be a well written story but if this is not your thing, then you should take a pass on this one. McKenna does a good job in making it clear that the simulated rape scenes are consensual and a safe word is in place. Not once did I think Flynn would ever disregard the safe word.

Laurel White is drifting through life. She quit her engineering job to work as a waitress. Not what most would consider a good career move. She's rooming with two other women and has no real direction in her life, until she sees Flynn. It's a chance encounter that brings her into his world and changes her perceptions of herself and what she wants. For Laurel, Flynn is the catalyst that causes her to look deep into her needs and desires and give herself permission to enjoy what Flynn is offering.

Michael Flynn, or just Flynn as he prefers, is a man who's comfortable in his skin. He knows what he likes, what turns him on, what gets him off. He's fine with being different, his kink certainly isn't mainstream but it's his. He owns it. I liked that right off about Flynn. There's no bullshit with him. What you see is what you get. He's very open about what he thinks and has no problem telling Laurel. This takes Laurel by surprise at times but I also think she found it refreshing. No games with Flynn, just honesty. Sometimes very brutal honesty but it opens Laurel up to new experiences and that's what she wants, needs and craves.

Flynn's world is something that Laurel has no real reference point for. He's a boxer - he enjoys it and he's built for it. It's a brutal world of violence and pain. Laurel finds herself fascinated by it and drawn into this dark side of life she knew nothing about. Part of the allure is the feel of the forbidden. The boxing, the sex - it makes Laurel feel things she had no idea were inside her. I liked that she was brave enough and honest enough with herself to admit her attraction to this dangerous man even when her conservative side was telling her she shouldn't be.

Laurel isn't the only one who changes over the course of the story. Flynn does some changing too. His changes are more subtle, following his developing relationship with Laurel. McKenna's writing makes it believable that this man, whose life seems so structured at the beginning, now opens up a piece of himself to this woman who accepts him for who he is. For Flynn, that isn't easy to find. You get the feeling that he's closed himself off from truly feeling anything with any of his other lovers than the basic and often brutal physical aspects that his limited relationships give him.

Willing Victim is a very different romance. And I do think it's a romance. Laurel and Flynn come together for one reason, sex, but as their relationship progresses it changes and grows with their new needs. Each experience leaves an impression on the characters, changing them in ways they weren't expecting. Laurel's changes are more pronounced, with her opening up and realizing that rough sex is what she likes. It isn't an easy thing for her to admit but with Flynn's help, she's able to be honest with herself about what she wants not only regarding sex but also about where her life is heading and what she wants out of it. Flynn changes but I think he was open to the changes but wasn't expecting them to happen simply because of lack of opportunity. Whereas Laurel wasn't expecting the changes because they were out of her realm of experience.

The writing is vivid and graphic with the imagery putting the reader right in the moment, experiencing everything with Laurel. It's told in her POV which was a good move on the author's part. It's Laurel's emotions that we need to know. Flynn is an open book, he puts everything on the table. But Laurel's a jumble of emotions. She's overwhelmed with stimuli and must process her newly gained knowledge. We need to know what she's thinking and feeling not only for the plot to be believable but for the reader to know that everything is consensual, that Laurel wants to be with Flynn and she can stop it at any time. I think that's essential to the validity of the story. If at any time I felt Flynn would have disregarded Laurels needs and used his greater strength to force her to do something she didn't want, I would have stopped reading.

The one major complaint was towards the end when I felt the relationship took a turn and became more than sex. It had been venturing in that direction but when it finally did, it felt rushed. I would have liked more time spent on seeing Laurel and Flynn explore those avenues. The emotional facets outside of sex would have added more depth to the story. While we saw some of this, more would have been nice and lent a greater feeling of completion.

I do want to address the sex scenes with regards to the roughness and the role-playing of forced rape. At any time Laurel could have stopped it. McKenna wrote those scenes as well as what proceeded them, with a talent that left no doubt that Laurel was in charge. That it was her decision to continue in this unconventional relationship with Flynn.

The characters in Willing Victim are well developed with the story being more than the sex and violence. We get to see the insecurities and flaws of these characters. We see how Laurel and Flynn handle their everyday lives as well as the nights they are together. We see them acting the way any couple acts when getting to know someone and deciding what to share about yourself with them. Overall a well written, highly erotic novel.

Rating: A-