Mini’s: Talk This Way by Dakota Cassidy & Fanning the Flames by Victoria Dahl

Both these authors are favorites of mine. Their books always feature smart, sassy heroines and swoony (nice) guys with lots of humor. The following two reviews are for novellas that introduce the reader to the author’s series – Dahl’s Jackson: Girls’ Night Out and Cassidy’s Plum Orchard.

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In her sexy new series, bestselling author Dakota Cassidy introduces the Call Girls, a spirited group of friends ready to take on lust, love and everything in between…. Find out where it all began in this delicious novella!

If life is like a box of chocolates, Cat Butler has tasted them all—and decided on none. It's no wonder she can't keep a job, even though her mother's health depends on it. Just when she finds herself up a creek without a paddle—again—a benevolent friend throws her a lifeline. In the form of a job at, of all places, a phone sex hotline. Not exactly what she had in mind, but if it pays the bills for her mom's expensive nursing home, what's the harm?

Successful entrepreneur Flynn McGrady knows a thing or two about responsibility. So when his mother has a stroke, he knows the right thing to do is relocate to Atlanta to be near her while she recovers. He's got a plan for everything—except for feisty Cat, who finally gets his mama to talk again. Talk dirty, that is, and he's not pleased. Cat is gorgeous and sassy to boot…too bad she's not the type to settle down.

Cat and Flynn may have bigger fish to fry, but the sparks between them are hotter than hell. And when they finally give in to temptation, the results are explosive. Can a girl who follows her heart and a guy who follows his head find their way to forever? ~ Goodreads

My thoughts: I was a little confused at first when there was more written about a male friend of the heroine rather than the love interest but it all comes together and I can see how he becomes a catalyst for the whole series.

ZOMG the swoon over Flynn. His mom had a stroke and he’s struggling to find something to help him connect with her. When he realizes she is into romance novels, he gets down to reading them so they can have a book club to discuss and thereby help her speech problems. He also takes up knitting to help her hand eye coordination. He’s just so awesome I can’t stand it!

Also, the book/series is about a phone sex service and the girls are hilarious. The characters are unconventional to say the least. I can’t wait to read more.

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Burning for you

Some men are off-limits. Close friends of your ex-husband, for instance. Or firefighters who work in the same building as you. Yet despite her best judgment, librarian Lauren Foster can't help noticing fire captain Jake Davis whenever he jogs by…shirtless. They've always been friends, but all it takes is one not-so-chance meeting at a local bar and one not-quite-innocent walk home to ignite a fierce, uncontrollable desire between them.

Widower Jake Davis has tried to ignore the spark he feels whenever Lauren's around, but once he sees her curves in a little black dress, there's no turning back. No matter how often she says she's all wrong for him, the sexy, outspoken divorcée is driving him wild in the best possible way. Maybe she's just blowing off steam. Or maybe he can convince her to fan these flames into something deeper, hotter and truer than they ever expected… ~ Goodreads

My thoughts: This is a really short novella and I wish this couple got a full novel because they’re so fantastic. Fanning the Flames had plenty of awkward, sweet and sexy moments and was a nice intro the new series.