4.5 stars

This was a surprisingly good read. I thought Max and Anna were genuine, likable characters. Their affection for each other and the obstacles they faced were very believable. The sex was pretty steamy and I was rooting for them to get their HEA. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series. ( )

A little Harmless sex
The Particulars: A Little Harmless Sex by Melissa Schroeder, available as ebook and in print, Erotic Romance, Samhain
The Review:

The blurb:
Is it love – or just a little harmless sex?
Max has always been Anna’s knight in shining armor. But Max has always seen her as a charming, and very sexy, little sister…
Until Max’s cold fiancé dumps him, Anna unloads another of her many conquests and she invites him over for margaritas and Mexican food. Too much tequila, too much flirting, and too many years of fighting the attraction — Max loses control and has mind blowing sex with Anna on her couch. And in her shower. And in her bed.
Anna can’t believe she has finally slipped beneath Max’s steely self-control. He is every woman’s dark, wet fantasy come true. But what happens when the Max pushes Anna for more than just A Little Harmless Sex?
My impression:
Melissa Schroeder has been on my “authors to check out”- list for a while. So when Samhain offered A little Harmless sex, the first book in the Harmless series, as a freebie in May, I jumped on the chance. And I am glad I did. This book is a big heap of sizzle. The tensions starts on page one, and refuse to let you go. This book was one of the better erotic romances I have read. Yes, there is a lot of sex but they were interspersed with other scenes. Scenes were Anna and Max went on with their lives ( or at least tried). What really made this story work for me were the characters. I loved the banter between Anna and Max. It was clear that they cared for each other. There was a nice mix between internal and external conflict. In truth, the biggest hurdles came from their own doubts. And I loved that.
I will definitely buy the next book in this series!
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What was supposed to be a night of a little harmless sex, turns out to be anything but.

Anna has known Max for years. They've always each other's shoulder to cry on. She's had a crush on him for years, but he has always seen her a s a little sister. At least he did until she graduated from college and came home looking all womanly. He and his fiancee have just ended their engagement, and Anna has just broken up with an overly emotional artist. For the first time they are both without significant others. They have dinner at her place, lots of tequila, and that leads to a passionate night of sex. It's just sex between old friends. There's no harm in that, right?

The morning after brings out mixed emotions in both of them. Now that Max has had her, he can't see himself being without her ever again. He knows her modus operandi when it comes to men, so he's prepared to woo her, hoping she'll see they're better together than apart. Anna is the difficult one in this story. She's loved her best friend for years, but he never made any advances on her (except for her first kiss when she was eighteen). She's the love them and leave them type, though love is a stretch, since she's never loved any boyfriend she's ever had. Now that the line of friendship has been blurred irrevocably, she's afraid it will mean the end of their easy camaraderie. Their chemistry is so off the charts though, that she can't help but do the horizontal tango with him time and time again, until her heart starts interfering with the casualness, turning it into something more. Max has one heck of an uphill battle before him if he's going to get and keep the girl in the end.

I really liked the hero and heroine. Max was a bit controlling (in the bedroom), which was a total turn on and frankly necessary where Anna was concerned. Anna was a spunky little thing, used to taking and holding control over the men she bedded. What better way than to get what she wants while keeping the messy entanglements of emotions out of it. That is until Max gets his foot in the door of her heart and wedges it there.

This was a fun, sweet story. Reading about these two, and seeing Anna totally out of her element was very amusing. Max's tenacity was romantic and cute. There was a little drama to stir things up a little, but it all made the end even more satisfying. ( )

I’m not sure what to say about this book. The first 1/3 worked well for me. I’m a fan of “friends to lovers” tropes so that part is right up my alley. The sex was pretty hot at first and I really liked the hero.

What I didn’t like were the myriad issues of the heroine, Anna. She had a lot of baggage that seemed to be attached to a specific high school incident. Now, I get that high school is traumatizing - it is for almost all of us – but for Anna to stay that traumatized for that long was a bit much. The way she reacted to the entire situation felt rather out of character for the heroine from what is shown of her for the rest of the book. It also felt like the author really hung a lot on that one plot point. The whole situation with Freddy felt a bit forced and the heroine’s constant issues regarding him were more than a little annoying.

My other really big issue was the confrontation between Cynthia and Anna. The situation with Cynthia sort of felt out of character, too. The rest of the book paints Cynthia as a shy, nice and polite young lady who was vaguely personality-less. Cynthia’s confrontation with Anna was completely out of character for the person the reader was initially introduced to. The other issue with Cynthia was the way the hero just brushed off her actions in attacking Anna. For Cynthia to behave in that manner and have no repercussions was…mind boggling. It felt more like a dangling plot point than a plot mover.
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I’m not sure what to say about this book. The first 1/3 worked well for me. I’m a fan of “friends to lovers” tropes so that part is right up my alley. The sex was pretty hot at first and I really liked the hero.

What I didn’t like were the myriad issues of the heroine, Anna. She had a lot of baggage that seemed to be attached to a specific high school incident. Now, I get that high school is traumatizing - it is for almost all of us – but for Anna to stay that traumatized for that long was a bit much. The way she reacted to the entire situation felt rather out of character for the heroine from what is shown of her for the rest of the book. It also felt like the author really hung a lot on that one plot point. The whole situation with Freddy felt a bit forced and the heroine’s constant issues regarding him were more than a little annoying.

My other really big issue was the confrontation between Cynthia and Anna. The situation with Cynthia sort of felt out of character, too. The rest of the book paints Cynthia as a shy, nice and polite young lady who was vaguely personality-less. Cynthia’s confrontation with Anna was completely out of character for the person the reader was initially introduced to. The other issue with Cynthia was the way the hero just brushed off her actions in attacking Anna. For Cynthia to behave in that manner and have no repercussions was…mind boggling. It felt more like a dangling plot point than a plot mover.
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