The Vibes: super sexy, Latine rep, a story for every mood

Heat Index: 8/10

The Basics:

A collection of hot short stories by Angelina M. Lopez, some with a bit of magic, several with a lot of heart, and all with plenty of female pleasure one way or the other.

The Review:

Angelina M. Lopez wrote one of my favorite contemporary romances that I recommend all the time, Lush Money. She’s such a strong writer, so good at channeling chemistry and character into her stories. So naturally, I jumped to review a collection of her short stories.

Short stories are hard to pull off… and she’s more than up to the challenge. Now: A few of these are separate scenes, related to books she’s published in full. However, they all function as standalone short stories without any issue. The spoilers are limited to “these are romance novels so people end uip together”, but Lopez offers a forward for every story—so you’ll know either way.

Lopex excels at offering diverse setups, as well as stories that center Latine characters and strong, but incredibly human (and yes, flawed) women. No matter how quick and dirty, these stories are well-written and at minimum offer a glimpse into a woman’s mind, her stressors, her desires. This is just a great collection, and it’s ideal for those who need brain candy but want like… brain candy that isn’t brainless.

My top favorites:

–The Phone Call and Star *69. The first and final stories in the book actually tell a two-part story, and I fucking LOVED it. It’s a simple setup that I am personally a sucker for: Rosemarie’s husband died, and his best friend, Sam, has become her best friend and confidante over the past few years. Though they’re a flight away, Sam has always been there for her over the phone… so Rosemarie decides, after realizing she needs to get laid, that Sam should be the man who eases her back into sex. The tension? Exquisite. The character development? Somehow fabulous for a pair of short stories. I loved Rosemarie and Sam, I loved their love, and though I’d read a full book about them any day, I felt like I got their full story here and I was GRIPPED.

–Twelve Drummers. Lopez sometimes plays with magical realism, and this story is heavy on the magic… and the eroticism. It’s hard to explain this one, so just know that it’s linked to an ancient holiday, a mystical drum, a jewel thief and a security guard, and, well—a twelve-person gangbang. Yeah. It’s GREAT.

–Too Old for You. On the surface, this is another lightly supernatural-infused story with a hot age gap, a hero who’s all “Noooo I’m too old for you but… I mean… Well… if you INSIST”, and some very dirty car shenanigans. But. If you read Lopez’s forward… Well. I found it DELIGHTFUL.

–The Proposal. This is a pretty straightforward, sweet-but-also-hot story about a girl who wants to learn about sex and the boy she’s selected to reach her… but I’ve been saving Lopez’s Full Moon Over Freedom because I’ve read almost everything else in her backlist. And now! I must read it posthaste, because this story is connected to it, and um, it’s SO good. She nails characterization within limited pagetime.

–Hot Pockets. I wanted to call this one out because I didn’t think I’d love a slice of life story about a very realistic married couple trying to sneak in some quickies in between handling the day to day, but… It’s so sweet? And so HOT? And again, she just nails the quick-turn characterization.

–A Mermaid and Her Star. I mean, gotta call this out because there’s paddleboard sex. Like. Come on. You want to read this.

–Harvest Time. This story is connected to Lush Money, and you don’t need to read that book. But like. Read it? I think this will convince you if you haven’t. Roxanne and Mateo are FIRE.

Aaaand that is like, half the collection, and I could add more, because they’re all good. I will say—most of these stories are romance OR in a couple of cases, erotica. One, A Good Man, is not. In the forward, Lopez mentions the issues that the romance genre has with accepting authors of color, and how that’s led her to try new things. It’s more on the thriller side. It is hot! But it’s not romance.

I really hope Angelina doesn’t leave romance, though I’ll definitely try anything from her. The story is quite good. She can do whatever she wants, I’m sure. But if the, frankly, racist resistance from readers pushes her out of the genre… I’ll be so fucking sad. She’s a true talent.

So… you know. Let’s support her work and give ourselves JOY. We all win.

The Sex:

I don’t think I need to get into this again, but uhhhh. You get it all. The gangbangs, exhibitionism, soft intimate loving sex, morning sex, the aforementioned paddleboard sex. It’s here, it’s good, I recommend. Two of these stories don’t show sex on the page. One follows up on it in a second story. I did kinda wish we got the follow-through on the other one, but I do see how it played with the teasing of the eroticism.

I seriously recommend this one. In truth, I’ve been struggling with feeling really connected to books this summer. Even when I enjoy them, excitement can be elusive. I’m just burned out. These short stories were exactly what I needed and left me feeling so refreshed.

You deserve a treat. Buy it!

Thanks to Angelina M. Lopez for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Just spectacular

Angelina M. Lopez truly is the best of the best when it comes to writing romance, and this collection demonstrates exactly why.