Hollywood Dirt
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Alessandra Torre
Release Date: September 7, 2015
Cole Masten. Abandoned by his superstar wife, Hollywood’s Perfect Husband is now Hollywood’s Sexiest Bachelor: partying hard and screwing even harder. Watch out Los Angeles, there’s a new bad boy in town.
Summer Jenkins. That’s me, a small town girl stuck in Quincy, Georgia. I cook some mean chicken and dumplins, can bluff a grown man out of his savings in poker, and was voted Most Friendly my senior year.
We were from different worlds. Our lives shouldn’t have collided. But then Cole Masten read a book about my small town. And six months later, his jet landed on our dusty airstrip, and he brought Hollywood with him.
From the start, I knew he was trouble. For our town. And for me.
Sometimes, opposites just aren’t meant to attract.
Stand-alone Contemporary Romance
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When the door to the production trailer burst open, it brought with it a wave of heat and beauty. Cole looked up from the storyboards and locked eyes with Summer, who blew across the room at him like a tornado on tilt.“There’s no love story between Ida and Royce.” Summer snapped, throwing down the script, pages fluttering down between them. In the small trailer, conversations stalled and he could feel the attention turn their way. “I’ve read the book. Three times!”
It was good to know that someone had read the damn book. Cole glanced down at her temper tantrum of a mess and back up, raising his eyebrows mildly. “It’s a movie,” he said, turning back to the storyboards. “The writers are adding some excitement. It’s normal. You’d know that if you were in this business.” The dig was unnecessary but he couldn’t help it. This woman turned him into the devil.
“I read the first script. The one you sent over with my contract. Ida and Royce hated each other. Why would Royce…” she snatched up a page from the ground and read out a line. “pushes Ida against the file cabinet and kisses her passionately.” She balled up the page and threw it down to the ground and he could see, in her eyes, the panic. Panic. An unexpected reaction.
“We’ll use that,” Don made the dangerous move of stepping in, putting a soft hand on her shoulder. “You don’t understand. The passion from their hatred will make it hotter.”
“No.” Summer said, her face hard, her eyes on Cole. “It doesn’t make it hotter. It makes it stupid.”
“Aww… come on, Summer.” Cole chided, stepping closer, his hand reaching out to pull at her wrist. She fought him, yanking it back and the moment of their bodies meeting didn’t happen. He leaned down and whispered, right against her ear, the smell of her apple-scented lotion enough to make him want to empty out the production trailer right that moment. “Sure it does.”
She jerked back and twisted away. “If he kisses me on camera I’m going to lose it.” She shot at Don, pointing an accusatory finger in Cole’s direction.
“I know you will,” Cole laughed, crossing his arms to fight from reaching out. “You’ll fall apart under my mouth, baby.”
Summer screamed in response, her hands thrown up in frustration, and spun to leave, her script left behind, the slam of the exit door loud in the full production trailer.
“That went well,” Cole mused. He linked his hands and rested them on his head, rolling his shoulders back. Panic. She’d had panic in her eyes. Fuck.
“What do you expect?” Don said. “You threw this on her without warning. I told you we should have met with her this morning, gone over the changes to prepare her. But no – you just wanted to dump it on her via call sheets and sides.”
“Dump it on her? I was People’s Sexiest Man last year. She’s not mentally adjusting to a war camp for God’s sake. How hard is it to kiss me?”
“It’s actually three kisses,” a dark-haired PA to his left pointed out. “And a grope.”
He gave her a hard look and she withered a little.
“I’ll go talk to her,” Don said. “Eileen, you shoot #4 and I’ll talk to Summer. I want to try to get #14 shot at eleven so let’s get our asses in gear and get this done.”
“I’ll talk to her.” Cole stepped in. “You shoot #4 and I’ll talk to her.”
“No,” Don snapped. “With my luck you two would make up and any authenticity to the scene would disappear. Just stay away from her and be ready at eleven.”
Cole chewed on his cheek, then nodded. “Fine.” Don was right. He should stay away from her. Far. Far away.
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Now I knew why they said you FELL in love. I plummeted with no parachute, and hoped like hell he would catch me when I hit the bottom.
Have you ever read a romance novel and it was like a movie reel in your head? Like you could actually imagine the actors playing out every line? Picture the town and it’s residents exactly as they’re being described? Actually notice absolutely every single minute detail inside your mind? That’s what Hollywood Dirt was for me. At times I felt like I was reading a movie script more so than a book. At first I thought that maybe that’s not really a good thing since it was a slower pace than what I’m used to. But after taking some time to think about it, I can say that it was refreshingly different. If you’ve read any of the other books by this author, Hollywood Dirt is nothing like them. There’s no crazy twists, it’s certainly not as erotic as her other books have been, and it’s not evocative. It’s a light, feel good, pure contemporary romance about a country girl and a hollywood star. An unlikely one, but still a romance that will capture your heart.
Don’t except a quick paced story here, the romance between Cole and Summer is very much a slow burn, and it wouldn’t be fitting any other way. They’re from two different worlds and they see themselves in two different places entirely in the future, but chance and circumstance brings them together and what starts off as pure snark with hate soon begins to show the undercurrent of unadulterated lust that slowly begins to evolve into something much deeper.
I want to flip you over and bury my face between your legs and fuck you with my mouth. I want to make you scream my name and come underneath my mouth and taste the moment you fall apart for me.
Cole is coming off of a bitter divorce and putting everything he has into the movie that he’s now bankrolling. When he comes to the small southern town and meets Summer, he knows there’s no one better suited to play the main role of Ida than her. Summer is hoping to take the money she earns from the movie and finally put the town she grew up in and the memory of her mistakes made in it 3 years ago behind her. But when she begins to see the man beneath the hollywood layers, she sees there’s much more to Cole than first meets the eye and she begins to fall for him.
Fans of Alessandra’s Innocence series will get a VERY big surprise in this book in the form of Brad DeLuca. He plays a fairly big secondary role and man oh man but I loved his unexpected cameo. He’s still as intense and overpowering as ever and it only added to the enjoyment of it. But for me, it was always all about Cole. There was just something so endearing and…real…about him.
Summer was a different heroine from anything I’ve read from Alessandra in the past, and while she has her faults and hang ups this is still a woman that knows her worth and stands up for it.
Honestly, I struggled a little going into it simply because it wasn’t quite what I had expected. It’s slow paced, but the pace was perfect for the book and the story. Upon thinking about it, it really was perfectly suited for this story. It was different but lovely. If you’re looking for a light and feel good contemporary romance, this is a book you should definitely try. Alessandra Torre is an incredibly talented writer, and this book shows how multi-faceted she is. She can pull off different genres and it truly translates. Each of her books has been different in their own right, and this one is no different. While different from the rest, I think that’s what I enjoyed the most about it. There was nothing crazy, no silly drama or overdrawn angst. Just two imperfect characters finding a perfect love together.
Alessandra Torre is an award-winning New York Times bestselling author of ten novels. Her books focus on romance and suspense, all with a strong undercurrent of sexuality. Torre has been featured in such publications as Elle and Elle UK, co-hosted Dirty Sexy Funny with Jenny McCarthy, as well as guest blogged for the Huffington Post and RT Book Reviews. She is also the Bedroom Blogger for Cosmopolitan.com.
You can learn more about Alessandra on her website at www.alessandratorre.com, or you can find her on Twitter (@ReadAlessandra) or Facebook.
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What an incredibly bittersweet book this was for me to read. I first discovered this amazing series back in 2012 when I read 
You know how I was sure I had a 5 star read on my hands? I didn’t skim even one page. Not. A. One. Not any of the descriptions of the clothes, the furniture, the rooms, the clouds in the sky, nothing. I was enthralled in the characters and their romance from beginning to end and absolutely devoured every page.
Here’s the thing, you’re pretty much know exactly what you’re going to get with a Lora Leigh novel. No deviation. Lather, rinse and repeat, all her books follow practically the same formula. But there’s just something about her alphas; those crazy possessive and jealous, dirty talking and revenues heroes that just do it for me and keeps me coming back for more. Even if the story falls flat, I still enjoy the read for that reason alone. She’s my go-to when I need a good dose of uber alphas. Plus considering she was the very first erotic romance I had ever read, I suppose I have a a little nostalgia with her romances. Yes the formula is always the same; uber alpha and a sassy heroine that fights her obvious attraction to him at every corner, but in the case here…it worked for me.
Wicked Lies is book two in her Men of Summer series but it can easily be read as a standalone. I read book one years ago and remember a sum all of nothing and had no problem following the story here. Though I had a little trouble getting into the book in the first 25%, it did flow very well after that.
Truth be told, I’ve been waffling over my rating for this book for over a week now. While I enjoyed the concept of the book, the secondary characters and I’m certainly hooked on the series itself, I honestly can’t say that I loved this book. I was bored and found myself skimming the majority of the story.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t anything that grabbed me either…ever. It started out slow and for me the first half felt very dragging. I kept reading in hopes that it’ll pick up soon and perhaps the first 60% is just the build up, but that never happened. I find that NA usually has different types of angst, and being the angst whore that I am, I enjoy it each and every single time. However, as I’ve come to find here, there can also be a boring type of angst.
The rest of the book goes something the lines of this:
I felt no connection to the characters or the plot. I felt like all of it was muted in the constant sex fog. I got to the point where I was skimming most of the sex scenes because honest to god, my vagina hurt for Mariam.
Yeah. No.
Can you get a highly satisfying and enjoyable steamy romance in just a short 120 pages? In the case of this book; also-fucking-lutely. There’s a reason I’ve read practically every book in Lorelei’s backlist and this book is the perfect example why. It’s wonderfully smutty but with a great story and fantastic characters. I love this author’s dirty talking cowboys, and Wynton Grant was utter perfection.
Before I get to my review, let me get a few things out of the way with first.
The first half of the book is very much a slow burn, but it never drags. The angst and emotions truly have you riveted to the pages, it certainly did for me. My heart broke for Ransom and yet in the same breath I wanted to curse him to hell and back for his behavior. It was frustrating, it was maddening, it was disturbingly enrapturing.
I don’t want to give much away about the book because it’s just one of those things you need to experience for yourself. What I can say is I loved the route that Eden took with book and I was shocked as shit about it that I was. See, here’s the thing, I HATE a drawn out story that I think could have ended in one book. Cliffhangers drive me to drink and induce near homicidal thoughts when I finish reading it. Thick Love is part 1 of 2 books, and you know what? It’s best that way. This book was not about the epic love between Aly and Ransom. It was more about Ransom coming to terms with his guilt, healing his heart, and learning to move on. Both these characters have a lot of growing to do still and there’s no way this book would have been the same had it been all crammed into one book.
As much as the bumps on the road to Aly and Ransom’s relationship drove me out of my ever loving mind, it also made me feel. This entire book, everything about it will do one thing, guaranteed; evoke emotion. Whether that be rage, tears, it will make you feel.
I adore all things Lauren Layne, so it was an absolute no brainer decision when I saw she was coming out with a book for one of my favorite tropes; friends to lovers, to dive right in. Lauren is my go-to author whenever I need a light and easy read filled with swoony romance and endearing characters. Blurred Lines certainly fit that and then some. It was the perfect afternoon read. I simply adored Parker and Ben together. I always seem to have a weakness for the manwhores, and Ben definitely hit the spot for that. Their friendship had a solid foundation, which I really appreciated. I loved their banter the most
While the chemistry was definitely present between these two, they spent so much of the book denying and not seeing what was happening between them, that it became difficult even for me to see it. I struggled to see beyond their friendship to the romantic entanglements. Sure they burn up the sheets together, but I just didn’t get that butterflies in the stomach kind of connection. Usually in a friends-to-lovers book, I always sense the undercurrent of romance and sexual chemistry between the couple even when they don’t, but that wasn’t the case here. I can understand given the many years of solid friendship they had how they may fail to see it, but it just lasted too long for my tastes. Perhaps if both of them began to noticed it at least in the middle of the book than towards the end of it? For whatever reason, I just didn’t get that sense of crackling chemistry I usually get with a Lauren Layne novel.
What is it about an MM romance by Barbara Elsborg that just does it for me? Every. Single. Time. I’m pretty sure it’s the perfect combination of incredibly erotic sex scenes with a dry wit, snark, and humor along with some suspense that all adds up to be exactly what I need it to be. If you’ve read 
If you enjoy your MM with two very distinctly ALPHA males, this is not a book that you’ll want to miss. That was quite possibly one of my favorite parts about this. The fact that both the MCs are very much alpha and have a power struggle on who will bottom. Damn but it was delicious. But beyond that, Barbara Elsborg has once again managed to deliver and emotional and erotic story about two very broken people that find strength in each other and heal.
While recovering from an injury that almost paralyzed him and may not have been quite the accident that everyone else believed it to be. he’s sequesters himself to a house on the lake to go through the physical therapy he needs to finally gain his strength back. The last thing he expects to do is save a random drowning surfer.
Barbara Elsborg has become an auto-buy author for me and this book is a perfect example of why. I only hope that there may be more books in this series, but if I’m being honest, it doesn’t even matter because whatever this woman writes, I’ll read. Without a doubt.
No one, and I mean no one gives male POV quite like Emma Chase. The woman is the queen of male POVs and nothing beats her. While Drew from 
Don’t get me wrong, both Chelsea and Jake are far from perfect and I wanted to shake them for their stupidity more than a few times. But at the same time it just worked. I adored these two together. It wasn’t instant and I loved the burn of their sexual chemistry until they finally ignited together.
