Wench Review of...

Alisha Rai's The Karimi Siblings Series

So I've already talked about Alisha Rai and her unbelievably amazing erotica, Glutton For Pleasure, Serving Pleasure, and A Gentleman In The Streets in my review post here. And I mentioned how I am slowly making my way through everything she's written or recommends because I think I may love her. 

(Minus the creepy serial killer cannibal part)

Diversity, interracial relationships, portraying different cultures without judgment or ridicule (so far she's hit three of 4 cultures my parents and their parents are from, and it's been ACCURATE without being offensive in ANY way), a pretty accurate depiction of being the children of immigrants in a culture vastly different from the ones their parents came from. I mean, really, I could go on about all the things Ms. Rai gets right. And then some. But instead I'll just stick to reviewing The Karimi Siblings books!

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Falling For Him was just what I needed when I was going through some pretty bad PMS and basically ODing on chocolate and wondering where all the perfect men in books were in real life. I mean, really authors, are these men for real? Is art imitating life? Because if so, I need to find my Mason.

Depends on the sugar.

Leyla Karimi lives next door to her younger brother, Sasha's, best friend, Mason, who practically grew up with them. She's been having some very interesting NC-17 rated thoughts about the hunky future doctor, and honestly, who can blame her? Now, normally I'm not for the whole falling in love with your siblings' bff romance, because, well, for one my brother's friends have generally been every bit as moronic as he is to me, and two, there are so many crappy romances about that, but wow. Leyla and Mason changed my mind. I wanted Mason and Leyla to get down to it pretty much immediately. And holy crap, was Mason good at wooing her. 

Mason was on it.

Mason respects Leyla's boundaries, and lets her set the pace for their relationship. I like that there was no beating around the bush or stupid misunderstandings and miscommunication between the leads once their mutual attraction had been established. I LOVE how straightforward, direct, and ADULT all of Alisha Rai's characters are. Even when there are issues, even when they have cold feet about their relationships. They still manage to act like adults. Stubborn adults sometimes, but still adults. Where people are willing to talk and listen to each other no matter how hard it is, and where women don't put up with shit just because they've fallen in love. It's refreshing as hell in a genre that relies heavily on completely juvenile crap to create drama, and where women oftentimes will allow men to treat them like doormats, when really, adult relationships are plenty angsty without all of that. 

Also, when they finally get down to it, the sex is PHENOMENAL. Alisha Rai should give classes on writing sex scenes. And the bone melting chemistry between the main characters... Phew! INTENSE! Also some of the best sex scenes I've ever read, consistently! (I cannot repeat it enough, you guys have to read Serving Pleasure and A Gentleman In The Streets... seriously HOTTEST books I've read in a while).

Falling For Him is perfect when you're in the mood for a nice, sweet, "WHERE CAN I FIND ME A MASON?!" romance that doesn't waste time on immature angst and unnecessary drama, this is exactly what you should pick up next!

This Wench rates it : 

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Waiting For Her was the second book about Leyla's brother Sasha. I was wondering what Sasha would be like, since he was a bit of an ass in Leyla's book (pretty typical when it comes to guys from the East and their sisters, really. Although, thankfully, mine is nothing like that.) But I was pleasantly surprised. Sure, he thinks he knows what he's talking about and is a bit bullheaded. But it comes from a good place. And I was confident Maira would whip him into shape!

Sasha's a dreamboat. Like seriously *call home about him* hot. But he's a bit of a stubborn ass, and I like how his sister and girlfriend (Soon to be girlfriend?) know how to work around it. Dr.Maira Khan is a young doctor, who has been in love with Sasha FOREVER, but hasn't done diddly squat about it till the events of this book. Life or death situations can put things into stark perspective for you, and Maira decides to finally take action. 

I liked how drama free Maira was. In fact, I'm pretty sure Sasha created most of the drama ha! I adored how the story progressed though, even after Sasha fucked up. And once again, I have to give props to Alisha Rai for not wasting time on unnecessary angst. It is so damn refreshing! The sexual tension between them was so.damn.hot. I can't believe how much I enjoyed their pre-sex sexy times! H-A-W-T. Cold shower warning. 

Now, Maira's Pakistani American (first time I have EVER read a romance, or any mainstream book I believe, with one as the main character by the way), so I was interested to see how her family and mom would be handled. Sure, my mom's mom was Iranian, and my dad's mom was Indian, but they both grew up in Pakistan, so that's what I relate most to. And Alisha Rai painted a VERY accurate picture! Maira's mom's "Karimi? Oh you're not Pakistani?" was exactly what you would hear from a Pakistani mom no matter how amazing the guy standing in front of her was! 

"But mom! It's Jesse Williams and he's perfect!
Who cares where he's from?!"

And telling your daughter that her sis found a Pakistani American DOCTOR to get hitched to is exactly what they would do. (To be fair, my parents aren't like that, but many others are. Regardless of where in the world they end up raising their families.)

My absolute favorite scene is when her mom shows up the morning after their first night together. I adored Sasha in that whole chapter. And Maira's mom was all kinds of awesome too! I would not want to be in her shoes in that scene though. Just thinking about it gives me hives. Yikes. 

I can't stress enough just how much I've been enjoying reading Alisha Rai's books (and her twitter feed)! Lovable characters, blistering hot chemistry between the leads, and just plain fun! Wench recommendation for sure!

This Wench rates it :

These books are PERFECT for when you're in the mood for short and sweet romances, palette cleansers between other genres, or just something to pick up before bed! Definitely comes highly recommended by me for the smut and the romance! Enjoy!