Toot's Book Reviews: Giveaway, Review & Excerpt : Friends With Partial Benefits by Luke Young (CR)

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*Friends with Partial Benefits is the watered-down or sweet version of the book
Inappropriate Thoughts

Both by the same author, just under different names

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Book Blurb

Filled with passion, longing, surprises and humor, Friends With Partial Benefits, the first novel in the four-book series, is hard to put down and will leave you laughing out loud and slightly sleep deprived.

Jillian Grayson is a disillusioned divorcée and best-selling romance novelist who suddenly can't write a chapter without her hunky male heartthrob suffering ED, an STD, or even worse. Brian Nash is a tennis-obsessed college senior who's unlucky in love and the roommate and best friend of Jillian's son, Rob. When Rob brings Brian home for Spring Break, and Brian meets the surprisingly young and tennis passionate Jillian, their shared interest quickly develops into an intense mutual attraction. After nearly giving in to their feelings, they hatch a plan, while under the influence (of something more than just the perfect Miami night), to be Friends With Partial Benefits, complete with rules to define the boundaries. Will the lonely pair continue with this distinctive relationship, actually explore their desires, or discover all of it is a really bad idea?

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0057XY24K/

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Book Series Blurb

Best friends Jillian Grayson and Victoria Wilde could not be more different. Victoria, a widow who has really gotten on with her life, is wild, carefree, and living life to the fullest while Jillian, recently divorced, is a bestselling romance novelist who is straight-laced, proper, and reserved. That is until Jillian meets Brian Nash, the young, hunky best friend of her college-aged son. These two women provide the vantage point on the hilarious and steamy world of the Friends With…Benefits and the Victoria Wilde series. Filled with strong, sexy women and fun-loving, real men, the books are at once playful and very sexy; light but large-hearted. If you love sexy contemporary romance with a healthy dose of fun then this series is for you. Uniquely available in two heat levels, one version or the other is sure to be for you. Ian Dalton's Victoria Wilde versions contain approximately 7,000 more words with expanded scenes and more explicit prose while Luke Young's Friends series is written with a little left to the imagination. Rest assured that both versions contain the same level of laugh out loud fun.

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Book Excerpt

Jillian Grayson sat up in bed, typing away on the keyboard of her laptop computer. She wore a nightshirt that wasn’t all that sexy, but what she was typing was… or at least it started out that way...

Dallas lay in bed, unable to sleep and wondering if Katrina was suffering the same fate—and for the very same reason. Did she want him as much as he wanted her? Katrina was but a few steps away, yet he dare not go to her, for he was a guest, and then there was Katrina’s mother, who was just across the hall. For Dallas, sleep came minutes later, but it would be short- lived, for soon Katrina stood over him, completely nude and pondering how to proceed...

Dallas must have been in a deep sleep, since he didn’t feel it when Katrina peeled the sheet carefully off him, exposing his muscular body, six-pack abs, and sizeable manhood. She quivered when his impressiveness sprang into view. For a long time, she kneeled next to the bed, just studying his body and savoring his scent. Taking his sex into her hand, Katrina worked it until it was rigid while she watched him sleep. When Dallas woke, he looked into her eyes, swallowed hard, and whispered, "I’ve been waiting for you."

Just as fast as his sex expanded, it lost its firmness and flopped against his leg. Katrina looked down at it in disappointment and then moaned in frustration. "What’s wrong?"

Dallas said sheepishly, "Sometimes that happens to me. Sorry. Ever since I cheated on my wife with that whore in the pool, I haven’t been able to—"

Jillian stopped typing and thought she might be heading in the wrong direction with this. How did her ex-husband get into the story? But then again, most men are assholes, she thought.

Picking up the glass of wine from her nightstand, she took a long sip and then replaced it. She highlighted the last paragraph about Dallas’s problem, hit one key, and it was gone. Just like his boner. She laughed out loud.

Jillian wasn’t exactly in the correct frame of mind to write at the moment, especially on this particular subject. She stared straight ahead and wondered about the likelihood of Dallas slipping in the shower, striking his head, and dying instantly. Or maybe an earthquake could strike, and Dallas’s amazingly perfect body would be trapped under a giant beam.

What the hell kind of name was Dallas anyway? She thought she might want to give her character a real name like Stewart but figured no one would believe that a guy named Stewart could give you six consecutive orgasms in one night.

What was she doing, anyway, writing novels about people having amazing sex when she’d never had any? Okay, maybe once or twice twenty years ago, but none since then. She had no right. If people knew that she was the one writing these books, they wouldn’t buy them. She was a fraud.

Jillian picked up her wineglass and took another long drink. She grinned, wiped those unhelpful thoughts from her mind, and started typing again...

Katrina took his sex in her hand and worked it until it was rigid. As she studied it closely, Katrina noticed two red bumps on the underside of his pathetic excuse for a penis. She recoiled in horror—

Jillian hit the backspace key to erase everything after Dallas’s "sex" started expanding. Romance novels about erectile dysfunction and STDs weren’t exactly big sellers. She closed the lid on the laptop and tossed it gently onto a pillow at the foot of the bed. She emptied her wineglass with one last sip and turned on the television.

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Toot's Review

Friends With Partial Benefits is the watered-down version of the book Inappropriate Thoughts by the same author, just under two different pen names. The stories are basically the same just Inappropriate Thoughts would be considered more Erotica (spicy) whereas F.W.P.B's would be more of a romance (less spice). The basic story in summery is this......

Jillian is a very successful romance writer and she's in her more mature years. She also lives by the quote "those who can't, write" and it totally applies to her romance life. She's recently gone through an ugly divorce that revolved around a cheating hubby. The only good thing to come out of her marriage is her college-age son, Rob. Rob has decided to come home for spring break and bring his BFF Brian along. Brian, who's upside-down and totally twisted about a girl from college, who keeps stringing him along. He just needs to spend some time away from her to figure out what the future of their relationship is. Rob has all the best intentions of helping his friend over this hurdle but he also wants to reconnect with his longtime, long distance girlfriend. Little does Rob know, his girlfriend plans to spend as much time with him as she can. Unfortunately for Brian, that means he's being dumped by his BFF while at his house on spring break and has to spend time with the only other person in the house, his mom Jillian. Although Brian is a gentleman and grateful to Jillian for putting the boys up for the break, he quickly finds out that Jillian is one hot mama and they actually have tons in common. Brian and Jillian quickly become fast friends and are inexplicably drawn to each other but they don't want to hurt Rob by carrying their relationship further. So after a few drinks and other substances, they decide to become "Friends With Partial Benefits", basically a play on the classic "Friends With Benefits" but with wayyyyyy more restrictions. They lay down some rules and try desperately to adhere to them but once they sober up, they realize it's absolutely not going to work. So where do they go from there?

I actually really enjoyed this CR. I read the more spicier version, Inappropriate Thoughts first, then quickly went through Friends With Partial Benefits, just to see the differences. I quickly realized, I actually liked both versions but if I had to say, feet to the fire, I liked the spicier version myself. I definitely don't think you lose any of the story in either version. The basic story line is still intact with or without the spice. It's a super cute "Cougar" romance. The guys are hot and the woman show that no matter your age, you can rock it! I did find Jillian's BFF a bit much at times and I didn't like how abruptly the story ended but this is a series, so I'm assuming the answers left open are tied up in the other books? All in all, I'd recommend it and more-over it's one of the only romances I've read where you can choose how you want it, with or without spice!

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Author/s Bio

Luke Young is the Kindle-bestselling author of the Friends With...Benefits series as well as the novel Shrinkage.

Young's Friends With...Benefits novels are filled with passion, longing, comedy, and, yes, sex. His relationship comedies feature strong, sexy female characters -- women who seize every opportunity for fun and don't let a little thing like age stand in the way of love or desire. In each book Young sets different wheels in motion, applying his comedic touch and pitch-perfect ear for playful couples' banter. The result is warm, funny, sexy storytelling at its best.

Young also writes "spicier" books under the pen name Ian Dalton. If you like your sexy comedy heavy on the sexy, be sure to check out Dalton's Victoria Wilde series. For more information on how Ian Dalton's Victoria Wilde series relates to the Friends With...Benefits series please see the "Who Is Ian Dalton" area of his website. http://lukeyoungbooks.com/who-is-ian-dalton/

Who is Ian Dalton?

Authors of contemporary and erotic romance, Luke Young is Ian Dalton - well, sort of… Ian Dalton is Luke Young’s erotic alter ego. Don’t read this to say that Luke’s stories are anything less than steamy, but there’s still some of the erotic play-by-play that is left to the imagination. With the Ian Dalton editions, nothing is left to the imagination. Well, almost nothing, anyway. In essence, Each book on the Luke side has an expanded version available on the Ian side.

His Friends With… Benefits and Victoria Wilde series are based on the same laugh out loud stories with the Ian versions containing about 7000 words (around thirty pages) of more explicit and expanded sex scenes. So whether you like your contemporary romance regular or extra spicy, he thinks he has something for you. To get a feel for how the versions compare, please check out the "Who Is Ian Dalton" page on his website: http://lukeyoungbooks.com/who-is-ian-dalton/

Author Contact Links
Luke:
Amazon US Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Luke-Young/e/B004FW07CU
Amazon UK Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Luke-Young/e/B004FW07CU
Email: lukebyoung@gmail.com
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsWithPartialBenefits
Twitter: @lukeyoungbooks

Ian:
Amazon US Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Ian-Dalton/e/B0061WDLUM/
Amazon UK Author Page: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ian-Dalton/e/B0061WDLUM/
Email: ianwdalton@gmail.com
Facebook Page: http://www.facebook.com/#!/InappropriateThoughts
Twitter: @iandaltonbooks

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~*Giveaway*~

Luke/Ian will be hosting a TOUR WIDE Giveaway of a $20.00 Amazon/B&N GIft Card