Review: May by Audrey Carlan

Posted May 9, 2016 by Lola in Contemporary, Erotica, Review, Romance / 20 Comments

LolaReview

MayMay (Calendar Girl #5)
by Audrey Carlan

Blurb:
Swimsuits, sun, surfing, and a sexy Samoan. I headed to the island of Oahu, Hawaii to meet with cutting-edge swimsuit fashion designer, Angel D’Amico, to serve as head model for the “Beauty Comes in All Sizes” swimsuit campaign. The designer wants to show the world that beauty is not just a size two. My curves got me into this gig, and, the moment I laid eyes on my modeling “partner,” I’d never been happier with my buxom form.

Tai Niko had everything the average man lacked. Height, broad shoulders, a nipped in waist, square pecs, tree trunk thighs, and a look that rivaled “The Rock.” The part that made me drool and weakened my knees, was the thick, intricate tribal tattoos running down the entire left side of his muscled frame from shoulder to ankle. The design was unlike anything I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t wait to trace the tips of my fingers over every inch.

***

In the fifth book of the Calendar Girl serial, Mia is sent to Oahu, HI. Still on her mission to save her father, she embraces the model life to prove beauty really does come in all sizes.

Each installment in the Calendar Girl Serial will release every month throughout 2015. The stories will feature Mia’s journey as an escort to twelve clients in twelve different locations.

Warning: This book is designed for audiences 18+ due to language and graphic sexual content.

My Review:
May is the fifth book in the Calendar Girl series, this month Mia goes to Hawaii. She is there to model swimwear for an all sizes type of campaign. It was another great book, with some hits and misses for me. There were some great scenes, but also some meh parts. What is different about this book compared to the other books is that there is a bigger part of the story that takes place back home in Las Vegas and Mia spends some time with her baby sister and best friends before she goes to Hawaii. Things are changing in her sister her life and that indirectly also impacts Mia, as she always cared for her sister and was at times like a mother to her. I liked seeing how Mia took this new development in stride and how this is part of her journey and finding herself. I also liked seeing the two of them together.

Ofcourse there is more to the book than that. In this book her client actually takes a backseat, which was okay, although I would’ve liked to learn a bit more about the work she did. It just felt a bit weird there was so less about the actual work she got here to do. It’s definitely more of a relaxed and vacation feel. And the focus is more on Mia and her relationship or sex buddy adventure with Tai. And discovering Hawaii. I liked that this book focused a bit more on the location and I liked learning a bit about Hawaii and Samoan culture. As in the previous books Mia usually stayed indoors a lot, it was fun to see her get out and discover the setting a bit more.

Mia her relationship with Tai was a bit of a hit or miss. It’s lust at first sight and without any build-up they jump into the bed and have sex. No there is nothing wrong with that, but it just didn’t really work for me. Maybe after 4 books I know what to expect from the sex and it just get’s less interesting. I want more about the connection and relationships than only the sex. Tai and Mia know they aren’t each others forever and just enjoy this time together and for some reason I had a bit of trouble with that, they are friends and know they won’t ever be more so they have hot sex. It might just be me, but I wanted them to have more or less. Either just be friends or have more of a connection. And after a few times I got the memo about how big Tai was everywhere.

I did think Tai was a great character and I wanted his story and his happily ever after, not this time he spent with Mia, but ofcourse this is Mia her story and we experience everything from her perspective. And while I like that, I also really hope we’ll see where Tai ends up with and if he get’s his HEA. I did really like the scene towards the end that made me hope that Tai his happy ending is close by.

To summarize: this was another great book in this series. Mia her journey continues and this month she’s in Hawaii. Her client is only a small part of the story and there is more focus on her relationship with her sister and how that impacts Mia. I enjoyed learning more about Mia her sister and her best friend. But I thought it was a bit of a shame we didn’t see more of her client and the modeling. The sex part of this book with Tai didn’t do much for me. I liked both characters, but I just have some trouble wrapping my head around how they had such casual sex even though they knew they weren’t each others forever. I guess I like the sex and falling in love thing more. I did like Tai and I hope he get’s his happy ending. Tai and Mia do form an easy friendship and I also liked how we saw a bit about Hawaii and Samoan culture in this book. Rating is more towards a 3.5 star rating.

3-star

Links:
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Have you read a book that took place on Hawaii?

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20 responses to “Review: May by Audrey Carlan

  1. I’m loving the cover and problem would have just bought this book on a impulse buy, which just goes to show you that you can’t judge a book by its cover. AT. ALL. I don’t think I’m going to be reading this book anytime soon (although with a unique setting like HAWAII…..) I don’t know, the fact that they are FRIENDS with “benefits” doesn’t bother me as much as the fact that their relationship doesn’t go anywhere…??

    • It’s the fifth book in the series and it’s better to read the book in order. I do think thee will be an overarching romance as there is a relationship that has been continuing in some form. But it’s also a journey with how she meets a new client each month (she doesn’t have sex with all of them luckily) and a different place each month.
      With this book you know their relationship doesn’t go anywhere or at least they won’t become a couple, they just have sex and enjoy each other their company and stay friends after that. I guess it’s just hard for me to really understand that mindset. We do see this character in the next book again and it’s interesting to see how things have changed then.
      And I agree the covers for this series are really well done! I actually think they do fit the story with a different colour and city for each book.

    • You need to be in the right mood for these, but it’s a fun series overall. Also it’s more one big plot line with each month being a separate story at the same time. If that makes sense? So it’s not about the romance within each book, but more about finding herself and her path in live throughout this experience. At least that’s what i think so far, have read up to book 6.
      The culture and Hawaii setting where two of the things this book really handled well and it was fun to read about it.
      Lola recently posted…Review: May by Audrey CarlanMy Profile

  2. I’ve read a couple set in Hawaii, but it’s been a while. That’s good that there are scenes from back home with her family to help ground the character in the series since she ends up with a different place and situation each book. I like a bit more development between characters before they hop in the sack, too, but with each book moving on, I guess when it happens in the book is irrelevant. Sorry it was meh for you.
    Sophia Rose recently posted…Precious Metals by L.A. Witt #AfternoonDelightMy Profile

    • I thought it was really well done to have some scenes show her home and her family. It really helped to ground the character a bit and show her bond with her sister as well. I do like the overall feel for the series, but I just felt like the relationship in this one was a bit meh and weirdly enough I liked their friendship in the next book (when he makes an appearance) a lot more than their friends with sex in this book. And in a sense it’s more about journey than what happens in each individual book, it’s an interesting series.

  3. I’ve been wondering about these calendar girl books! I’m glad you’ve been reviewing them. 🙂 I’ve never been to Hawaii and I’d really love to go. It’s funny that it’s one of our 50 states yet it’s so far away!
    S. J. Pajonas recently posted…Top 10 Indian DishesMy Profile

    • It’s a fun series so far if you’re in the right mood for them. I am planning to review one book each month. I enjoyed reading about Hawaii in this book as you don’t hear about that state as often in books.

    • I had never even heard of Samoan culture before I read this book, so it was interesting to learn a bit about that. The instant lust just didn’t work for me, it’s obvious they are both there just for the sex and friendship and don’t want anything long term, but I just didn’t feel it. In the next books these two are just friends and it worked a lot better for me.

  4. I love when a book can take you on that character’s journey. I especially like it when their profession is something I’m unfamiliar with and I can live vicariously through them. So, that sucks that this didn’t have more of the modeling in it. At least the author includes some of the culture into the story.
    Kristin (Book Sniffers Anonymous) recently posted…Excerpt: Love Charms and Other Catastrophes by Kimberly Karalius [Giveaway]My Profile

    • I think this was a case of wrong expectations, I had expected more about the modeling as that’s how it went int he previous books whee he learn something about the type of work she does. But here the focus was much more on what she did when she wasn’t working. The addition of culture and the setting at Hawaii was a nice touch!

  5. I’ve never read a book set in Hawaii! I think that would be fun, to learn about the setting and culture and all that, especially since I’ve never been there myself. I’ve started trying to keep track of where the books I read are set because it’s fun kind of getting to experience different places.

    After four books in a series though, sometimes the sex does just get to be kind of the same thing over and over. Especially if it’s not actually pushing the relationship forward or really bringing anything to the story. There’s kind of only so much that can be written about a sex scene, so making it about the emotions and relationships can make a huge difference. I can understand why you wanted more of that.

    And look at that! You almost gave a half star rating 😉
    Kristen @ Metaphors and Moonlight recently posted…Discussion: Feminism & Double Standards in Books – Sexual PromiscuityMy Profile

    • I agree it’s fun to experience and visit different places through books! I think this si the first time I ever read about Hawaii and the culture there, so that was very interesting.

      I guess after a few books you know the author their style and most sex scenes aren’t that interesting anymore. I also agree with you that it’s often the emotions and the relationship between the couple that can make a difference and it just seems to miss here.
      And in the next book these two go on as just friends and it just worked so much better for me. They are good friends and set the basis here, but I just thought the sex didn’t quite fit in this book, then again that’s probably just a personal preference.

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