Happy Thursday, guys!
I hope
everything is going well on your end. I just realized that I missed two
weeks of posting; I had a family emergency the first week and misread the
calendar the second (which was still the stupidest thing that’s happened to me by far),
but ANYWAY, I’m back!
And I’m happy to report
that my reading slump is no more. I’m finally making a dent in my ARCs list.
Hopefully this reading streak sticks.
For today, I'm reviewing a book I finished recently that featured a married couple! If you missed it, I did a rec list of
some of my favourite ‘married romance’
here.
by Cara McKenna
Series: Sins in the City #1
Genres: Erotic
Publisher: Signet
Publication Date: February 1st 2015
Source: Library copy
Rating: ★★★★
I’m a huge fan of Cara McKenna’s
works. Her characters are usually so flawed and complex, and I love how she
writes emotions and relationship developments. I’ve always wanted to read Crosstown Crush
but the e-book price is ridiculous ($11, really?), so when a library copy was
available, I quickly jumped on it.
Crosstown Crush is about a married
couple, Samira and Mike. On paper they’re your ordinary couple: Mike’s a
detective and Sam’s an actuary, and they have a pretty good marriage. Except that
Mike has a kink called cuckolding; so once or twice a month, Sam comes home late and
pretends that she’s been out with some random guy and being super obvious about
it, and Mike ‘catches’ her and questions her about it. Cue the do where Sam tells
Mike everything she’s done with the imaginary dude and Mike proves that he’s still
the alpha in bed. Which sounds ridiculous when I put it this way (pretend cheating???)
but trust me, it totally works in the book. Then the couple decided to up the
level on their game by actually inviting
a guy into their bed, and the rest is history.
Nick called me a weirdo for
liking this so much, LOL.
What I really love about the
whole set-up is how open Mike and Samira are with each other in regards to
their thoughts and feelings. They talk a
lot
to each other, especially after starting a sexual relationship with the new
guy, Bern, because they want to make sure that everyone’s on the same page. I
love that Sam is so attuned to Mike’s wants and needs, and that she finds
something for herself in the whole thing as she indulges Mike’s fetish. I actually have never heard of this kink before; cuckolding has a lot to do with
masochistic pleasure a man finds in humiliation (so not my kink), in this case being 'forced' to watch his wife being unfaithful. It was kind of interesting to read from Mike's POV and see what he got from the whole set-up. I also love Sam's friendship/relationship with Bern. They have a lot of chemistry, and they
genuinely like each other. Speaking of Bern, I
love him. He’s such a lovable guy. He’s mature, sweet, and knows what he wants,
and he has an exhibitionist streak that works well with the arrangement with
Mike and Sam.
As I read, I wondered how the
story would end because I reckoned feelings would get in a way anyhow and lines
would get blurred. When the conflict in the end happened, I think it was
handled and resolved well, and it showed how strong Mike and Sam’s foundation
was, and how clear and honest communication is really the key to every thriving
relationship. I also love the HFN.
Overall, this is a very satisfying and emotional read. It's probably not for everyone because of the kink, but if you feel like trying something new, I'd totally recommend it!
I also recommend checking out Cara's other titles, they're all super sexy:
- underground fighter hero, prickly heroine (and I love her), CW: rape roleplay
- workplace romance, H/h work in a psych hospital, BDSM-ish
Have you ever read any of these titles?
Let me know in the comments below!
