90s Playlist: Anthology

Title: ’90s Playlist:
A Romance Rewind Anthology

Authors:  Brighton Walsh, Lorelie Brown, Amy Jo Cousins, Audra North, Rebecca Grace Allen, Jennifer Blackwood

Expected Publication:
October 13, 2015

Publisher: self-published collection

Pages: 353

Genres: New Adult ♥ Contemporary ♥ Romance ♥ Novellas

Source: ARC provided by Brighton Walsh

Summary from Goodreads: Six stories of sex, love, and being young in the ‘90s, inspired by songs of the decade…

My Strongest Weakness by Brighton Walsh
It was supposed to be a one-time thing. No one would find out; no one would have to know. And then once turned into twice, and twice turned into several times a week, and now pierced, punk-loving, rebellious Tia Lanning is banging Mason Brooks, the big man on campus and Mr. All American. But banging him isn’t the problem. Falling for him is. Especially when he’s content to let her remain his dirty little secret.

Worthwhile by Audra North
Jill didn’t expect her semester in Leeds to start with getting dumped by her boyfriend. Especially since she only came to England to be with him. Two weeks in, all she wants to do is go home. Finding love with someone new is definitely not an option. But when she literally stumbles into grad student Stuart’s arms, her experience abroad becomes a lot more worthwhile.

Creep by Lorelie Brown
Roni lives for the raves in Oakland’s warehouse district. Dancing till dawn in white gloves under black lights breathes life into her soul. Nothing will get her kicked out of her underground world faster than turning over Skittles, her dealer. She refuses to provide info about the underage runaway to his big brother Tom. But Tom is going to find Skittles with or without Roni’s cooperation. But Tom is special. He’s rich, handsome and bold. Roni wishes she was special. And like the rave scene she loves, nothing lasts forever.

Smells Like Teen Spirit by Rebecca Grace Allen
Rory Stone’s days of grunge and poetry are behind her, her reality now in bags of Arabian brew, and counting the change in the tip jar. Can indie singer James Griffith rock her muse back into the present?

The Belle vs. the BDOC by Amy Jo Cousins
Shelby Summerfield is a gold star lesbian, even if she doesn’t look like one. Florence Truong is the only other dyke at Carlisle College in 1993 not wearing plaid flannel, and Shelby sets her sights on seduction. But instead of a delightful tumble in the sheets, Florence calls her out for being a straight girl. With seduction off the table, Shelby settles for revenge for her humiliation. But if all she wants is to show up her campus rival, how come Shelby can’t stop herself from saving Florence instead of annihilating her?

Little Red Thong by Jennifer Blackwood
Emily Jones is ready to embark on the most epic spring break trip of her college career with her bestie, twin brother, and her brother’s best friend, Chase. Chase has been in love with Emily since the eighth grade when she kicked his ass in laser tag. He’s not going to piss away his last chance to tell her how he feels. When the group decides to play a game of Spring Break BINGO that involves body shots, a red thong, and secret hookups, this is the perfect catalyst to get him out of the friend zone. But as things get heated, they have to decide if twenty years of friendship is worth putting in jeopardy because of a game, and what will happen when they hit dry land.

Average Goodreads Rating (as of 10/12/2015): 3.86

• Christina thought this collection of 6 short stories was. It goes on her shelf. To find out why…

**SPECIAL NOTE:** An e-ARC of this title was provided by Brighton Walsh in exchange for an honest review. However, that did not influence this review in any way. All thoughts, quotes, and opinions will be of this version and not of the published edition.

♥ Quick Thoughts and
Rating of Full Anthology: 
3.25 stars! Though I was still just a kid during the ’90s, the references mentioned in these stories still brought on all those nostalgic feelings that I associated with my adolescent and early teen years. However, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I was expecting to be a little more transported through time. A majority of the references only included clothing choices, a few movie hits, and popular music during that decade, and I honestly expected more diversity among the stories than that. Overall, the compilation was good, but not amazing. I will rate each book and give brief thoughts about them below.

I’ll also note that I hope the whole anthology is given a thorough read-through before publication. Aside from one, maybe two, of the books, there were so many glaring errors that could have been easily fixed if there was someone there looking for them.

My Strongest Weakness by Brighton Walsh 
Song Inspiration: “If by Janet Jackson (1993)”

♥ Rating & Thoughts: 5 sizzling, sweet stars! While Brighton Walsh has a way of giving you a complete story within such a limited amount of pages, it’s hard not to want more and I definitely could have read more about these characters a billion times over. Tia, resident punk girl, and Mason, big man on campus and athlete extraordinaire, are the perfect example of opposites attract. With explosive chemistry and sex scenes that set the page on fire, this made for a quick and dirty read with a rapid punch to the feels and a swoony HEA ending to soothe away the hurt. I always look forward to more from Brighton Walsh. She’s a sure thing when it comes to delivering smart, sexy, and swoony contemporary romance complete with fully realized characters and spot-on voices.

Worthwhile by Audra North
Song Inspiration: “Half a World Away by R. E. M. (1991)”

♥ Rating & Thoughts: 2 stars! From the summary, I really wanted to love this one because it sounded like it was going to be in the vein of a more grown up Anna and the French Kiss. Sadly, it wasn’t anything like that. Not only did I not get swoony feels, but I didn’t get the sense of her being in an amazing new place either. Though, that could have been solved had she not spent the majority of her very few pages wallowing about being dumped. It’s hard to feel sympathetic about her breakup with Ben when he seems like he was an excellent poster-boy for a douchebag asshole. I spent the first half thinking, Will she forget about him already, please? But never fear, because once she moved on, she moved on. It was like a switch flipped and she was on to the next one faster than I could say, “Damn, girl.” I won’t lie, Stuart was likable and was almost enough to give this a higher rating, but I didn’t feel the connection between him and Jill like I needed to in order to believe she could replace Ben so easily, even if he was a jerk of epic proportions. Another noteworthy mention is that the ’90s didn’t come through as strongly in this as it did in the others aside from the mention of clothing choices.

Creep by Lorelie Brown
Song Inspiration: “Creep by Radiohead (1993)”

♥ Rating & Thoughts: 2 stars! Oh man, I don’t know, this one confused the hell out of me and that could simply be that Roni, our narrator, is a habitual drug user. Being in her mind was a little…okay, a lot like being high. Seriously though, she was a little spaced out and all over the place with her feelings, and it wasn’t exactly a great reading experience because of that. I felt like she was talking in circles, or maybe that was just because the pacing never seemed to take us anywhere. Additionally, I had a little difficulty finding the meat of the plot aside from Roni wanting to feel special, Tom gives her some action, they both catch feelings super quickly, and then the gaping open-ending made this whole novella feel a lot like the precursor to a longer story. I think it had potential, but the execution left much to be desired.

Smells Like Teen Spirit by Rebecca Grace Allen
Song Inspiration: “Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana (1991)”

♥ Rating & Thoughts: 5 stars! Okay, so yes, this had some serious typo/grammar issues but the characterizations and the hotness level and the swoony sweetness more than made up for those errors that would normally bug the hell out of me. I really loved this one! It had the most ’90s feel of all the other books, and I loved how Rory and James were both artists, her a poet and him a musician and that it came through very organically as a part of their personality and soul. I also enjoyed that this novella had more of a story arc that the other titles aside from Brighton’s, and that I can easily picture these two being together for the long haul. Loved it! Also, huge bonus points for the Rainbow Brite reference!

The Belle vs. the BDOC by Amy Jo Cousins
Song Inspiration: “Possum Kingdom by The Toadies” 

♥ Rating & Thoughts: 3 stars! I liked Shelby and Florence, and thought both were equally cute. For me, this novella was lacking serious depth all over- in characterizations, plot, and romantic build-up. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t blow me away either. It was just solidly good. Also, I didn’t understand the huge amount of hostility between the girls. It seemed a little forced. However, this story made me realize that I should definitely diversify my reads even more than I do already. As for another note, I could have done with a lot less “sugar” this and that. I’m a Southerner that loves her endearments as much as the next girl, but variety is the spice of life, after all.

Little Red Thong by Jennifer Blackwood
Song Inspiration: “The Thong Song by Sisqo”

♥ Rating & Thoughts: 2.5 stars! I just wasn’t feeling any type of chemistry with these characters. With the MC’s consisting of brother and sister twins and their best friends, one being the hero who was also a lifelong friends of the siblings, you think there’d be a more present connection between them already. Not really the case. In fact, the narrator notices the hero the first day of the cruise, and even after having known him for twenty-two years, she only now really sees him, and this is only because he packed on some major muscles the previous year at college. Then after a quick hookup one night, she’s ready for their happy ever after even though they’ll be separated by the entire United States, him being in Cali and her being in New York, and even after she just got out of a epically failed long distance relationship. I just…yeah, this one didn’t speak to me. The dynamic might should have worked– friends-to-more is my fave trope, after all– but the execution left much to be desired.

♥ Rec It? Not the anthology in its entirety, no. I’d definitely recommend a few of them, though. If you’re looking for something quick and fun with a brief blast from the past and a side of sexy, I’d definitely look into sneaking a few of the better shorts, like the ones from Brighton Walsh and Rebecca Grace Allen, onto your reading list.

♥ A very special thanks to Brighton Walsh (and the other authors) for providing me with an advanced copy of this title in exchange for my honest review.