O'Brien has written yet another strong erotic romance - or is it romantic erotica? I want to say there is a stronger plot in this one than in some of O'Brien's other books - but there's still one heck of a lot of sex. There isn't a lot of introduction of the characters, but I did like the two main characters - Claire and Alex - and obviously they had some phenomenal chemistry. Interestingly enough, the subsequent impacts on the relationship between Claire and her best friend worked particularly well and gave this a bit of realism (in the midst all the extended sex between Claire and Alex).

O’Brien is hit or miss with me. I have actually read several of her books and noticed I haven’t marked them on Goodreads.. sad. I will fix that at some point. I decided to read two of her books over Christmas. This one and The Sex Therapist Next Door. I didn’t care for this one, and really liked The Sex Therapist Next Door. So more of the same… hit or miss. I have decided the books I enjoy most of hers have more of a story. If there isn’t much of a plot and the storyline is weak the book for me becomes just more of the same. I guess I enjoy her more romance books vs more erotica.. This is odd because this book, for me, was way too much pointless sex without any character building vs The Sex Therapist Next Door.. (which you may think would have nothing but sex) is shockingly a good romance. I just didn’t much care for the story. This (as with any book) it came down to personal preference. I skipped several sex scenes because I just didn’t feel it added anything to the story. I often skip sex scenes in her books, but this one felt like I skipped way too much book. I didn’t like either character but I especially didn’t care for Alex. This one was two stars for me.

This could have easily worked as a short story instead of a novel, that aside I enjoyed it. The characters were likable although they lacked a little development. I did enjoy the intensity of the love scenes between them.

I was unable to review this book because of a conflict in my schedule. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused the publisher or the author of the work. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to review for you and I look forward to reviewing for you in the future.

I am a huge fan of the author's and have read some of her previous works maybe a dozen times. So I was really looking forward to this book. Sadly I was a little disappointed. There's hardly any build up so the first scene left me feeling cold. Alex is an interesting character but I found Claire and her best friend a little annoying. The ex girlfriend trope wasn't needed. While this book is perfectly okay, it just didn't live up to my expectations of this author - it's a perfectly readable steamy story but not one I will be re-reading.

ARC provided by NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was almost my first DNF by this author. I've read most of Meghan's stories, including her online stuff, but this one, on the heels of Camp Rewind, has me rethinking this policy. If she ever goes back to writing an actual romance (which this was billed as) then I might give it a go, but this is straight up erotica.

I'm also not a fan of the use of the 'p' word (I assume I can't use the actual word in a review), I know everyone is different, and it may not bother some, used sparingly it doesn't bother me that much either, I'm not a prude, it just does nothing for me. But it's in this book a lot, which I found off-putting.

And to be honest, I found nothing 'erotic' or 'sexy' about showing a woman naked pictures you've taken of other women, yourself, and yourself having sex with an ex. Yeah, we'll call that a no. There's also insta-love declarations, which, even though the characters have known each other for years, I found a bit much.

After that, it's pretty much sex, sex and more sex. This is interspersed with Alex's ex being a bitch, Alex and Claire being bitches to Alex's sister, Alex's ex being a bitch again, and the two of them revisiting their insecurities (although mostly Claire's) over and over. I also found Alex's job a bit... I don't want to say sleazy, because she is a professional photographer, but I for sure would not want to date a woman who regularly asks for (and receives) naked photos of other women. Just no.

This is probably one of my least favourite O'Brien books, I think I'll have to take a 'read the reviews first' policy before reading one of her books again, I enjoy a bit more plot than she's provided in the last two I've read.

Her Best Friend's Sister by Meghan O'Brien


Not For Me. Very Disappointing!

Thank You to both Net Galley and Bold Strokes books for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review

I first came across Meghan O'Brien's writing on the the Academy of Bards wesite and the short story was 'Thirteen Hours'. I really enjoyed it and remembered Meghan's name if I ever saw her with a published novel. Meghan is a really talented writer and she can write a sex scene as good as some of the best lesbian romance writers out there.

I was so looking forward to reading 'Her Best Friend's Sister'. I read and loved some of Meghan's earlier works---Battle Scars, Infinite Loop, The Three, The Wild were all really wonderful reads. In fact I've read The Wild like 4 times I liked it so much. When I saw the beautiful cover and read the description for HBFS I thought I was going to love this Romance novel. That is how this book is advertised as a Romance not as Erotica, but that is what this book is Erotica.

I have no problem with erotica but that is not what I was looking for. In my opinion erotica is just sex no story no loving feelings just sex and that serves a purpose if that is what a person is looking for.
Romance is a story where you get to know the character's and they get to know each other. You care about the character's and get drawn into their lives and yes hopefully there are intimate scenes in the book but they are love making scenes not sex for sex sake scenes.

The character's in this book might have known each other for fifteen years but we did not experience there time growing up together. It was chapter 11 when they came up for air and only because the best friend walked in on them by accident. I found myself skipping pages of the sex scenes. By the time I reach 40% of the book we finally see Claire at work and what is she doing? Thinking about Alex and not getting any work done. Sarah, her best friend comes into her office and talks about this art show that Claire is nervous to attend with Alex. They make plans for Saturday to have lunch together and go dress shopping and that's the end of that chapter. I thought OK now we'll be getting into the story of the book and I turn the page and it's now Sunday and Claire and Alex are back in bed together. That's when I gave up and said this book is not for me. We the reader's never get a chance to know these character's, except what they like in bed, so we don't get a chance to care about these character's and root for them to build a lasting relationship together.

Again nothing against Erotica, I was just looking for a Romance. I skipped Meghan's most recent novels because they were billed as Erotica. I hope that she will return to writing true romance novels, sex scenes only gets real old real quickly. Please get back to writing quality romance novels again Meghan!

This book is the perfect package of erotica and love story and proves once more that noone writes lesbian sex better than Meghan O'Brien. Make sure you read this in secluded places or with your partner ;-)

Well I usually do my reading while receiving hospital treatment which usually takes about 3-5 hours depending how busy they are. WOW! am I glad I read this one at home. It should come with a warning. Even at home I was looking around checking no one was reading over my shoulder. Steamy is an understatement. I also found it hard going to stay concentrated. Ok, put those thoughts away, but I found it a little over the top. Maybe I'm getting old.


The story itself was pretty good. You know the crush when you were a kid suddenly becoming a living thing. Also, trying to keep your best friend happy while accomplishing all your desires which have been simmering for years.


I may be one of a few but this is actually my first book by this author. So yes it was a surprise, but after reading other reviews on O'Brien I found that this was normal. I admit I nearly did not finish it. But I am very stubborn and hate leaving things half way through. So i continued. I am glad I did because as the story developed I became more involved and actually liked the main characters a lot.


If you like sex scenes this book is definitely for you. But if you like a sweet desire filled story then read this. Yes I would recommend it. Enjoy!


*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*


https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1994823427


https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R3D3OW1CM6FDD8/ref=pe_1572281_66412651_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

This book was definitely not what I was expecting... of course I didn't realize that I'd be reading erotica so that could have been why. I really liked the plot of this book! The thing I didn't like was how insecure Claire was for most of the book. I found that annoying but at the same time I did kind of sympathise with her. The erotic parts were varied and well-written. I enjoyed the actual plot though and would have enjoyed more focus on their relationship. Maybe there could've been one other issue for them to sort out that was unrelated to the ones that were already there. Over all I really enjoyed the book! Thank you!

I was looking for romance and found erotica instead. While this may not necessarily be a bad thing, I was put off by phrases such as "wrinkled folds" and convoluted explanations about how they got into position. That being said, just because it wasn't up my alley, it doesn't mean it won't be up yours.

I don't think I've ever read such a long, sustained and delicious piece of erotic writing. The story of tech geek Clare and her massive crush on Alex, her best friend's sister, is just the hottest, most romantic and well written erotic romance I've come across . The sex is utterly fantastic and Meghan O'Brien has managed to pitch it just right. As Clare and Alex become closer they have to deal with insecurities on both sides as well as worrying what Alex's sister Sarah might think. Add to the mix a truly evil ex and the tension level skyrockets. A brilliant novel that deserves 10 stars!

I was given this ARC by Netgalley and Bold Strokes books in return for an honest review.

Her Best Friend's Sister is the first book that I have read by author Meghan O'Brien. I was caught off guard a bit by the sheer amount of varied, very detailed, very explicit, and honestly, very hot, sex scenes between the two main characters. In fact, the book consists largely of sex, stitched together by short periods of the protagonists' inner conflict and interference from the outside world. I liked the premise of the story: Claire Parker has been in love with her best friend's sister, the older Alex Williams, since she was 12. When the two run into each other 15 years later, an alcohol-fueled encounter leads to what could be a lasting relationship. It did seem a bit strange to me that such incredibly successful women would be so prone to insecurity about their own appeal to the other. There is very little interaction with other characters in the book, which makes sense as Claire and Alex are quite busy with each other. The titular best friend, Sarah, has very understandable issues with the relationship blooming between her best friend and sister, as she never sees either of them once they take up with each other. We also have a caricature of an obstacle in Alex's ex-girlfriend, the lying, manipulative Vanessa. Overall, this book may have been better categorized as "erotica" than romance.

3 1/2 Stars. I'm a huge O'Brien fan. No one, and I mean no one writes such steamy, hot, lesfic sex scenes, consistently book after book. O'Brien's last book Camp Rewind, was an easy 5 stars for me. I loved it. So I admit, I found myself surprised that I didn't not love this book as much. The sex scenes were great like always, but I didn't connect with the rest of the story.

A little warning. I decided to start this book at work, on my lunch break. I thought I could read the first few chapters at my desk. A big mistake that was. There was no time for a build up, this book starts hot and heavy right away. I had to stop reading until I got home, don't make the same mistake I did:)

Maybe that was part of my problem with this book. Since there was no build up, I didn't get to know the characters before the first hot sex scene started. As great as the scene was, I felt a little off balance wondering were could the story go from here. That ended up being the problem for me, besides the fantastic sex scenes, there was not enough story for me to dive into. I liked the book, I was never bored, but I felt like I was reading it just for the sex scenes. The thing about O'Brien's sex scenes, is she always changes it up. While they may not always be to everyone's tastes, there is plenty of variety and they are never boring or repetitive.

By the time I finished this book, I felt like it may have been better served to make one or two erotic shorts, instead of a book. The first few chapters would have have made a great erotic short especially, I just felt like I wasn't left with enough story for a whole book.

If you are looking for a hot erotic story with great sex scenes, this book is for you. If you are a fan of O'Brien, like me, you will enjoy this. It just didn't have the meat of a story like Wild, Battle Scars, Infinite Loop or even Camp Rewind. I'm never disappointed by O'Brien, this is just not one of my favorites.

An ARC was given to me by BSB, for a honest review.

To this point, I have read all of Ms. O'Brien's publications, with varying levels of enjoyment. This particular novel, "Her Best Friend's Sister" presented the intriguing dynamic of Claire and Alex, successful women with a lifelong acquaintance who enjoy an intensely charged physical connection. Were this volume billed solely as that-a set of erotic encounters between two individuals, it would have achieved the ends of its author fully. However, when classified as a romance, one expects equal exposition to be allotted to that aspect of the plot-it was not. The intimate situations were highly scintillating, but the broader tale was lacking in the depth that I wanted. Still, I will return for future works for all of the positive qualities that Ms. O"Brien imbues them with.

I just can't continue with this book any longer. Once again I'm fooled by Bold Strokes Books into reading a book that's obviously just pure Erotica versus a plot-driven story. I do seek out this particular author because her plot-driven stories are quite good and unique. However, she does also have a penchant for erotica and those books tend to err on the side of juvenile. This particular book falls into the latter category. What passes for dialogue in this book is simply straight out of a really terrible porn. This isn't "hot", it's eye-rolling. Again, if I had never read a book previously from O'Brien, I probably would automatically write her off as yet another BSB author who is too green to handle a novel. From the opening scene, the protagonist is comparing her friend's cat to her own genitalia and letting it know the masturbatory evening she has in store for herself (er, for herself, not the cat). And from here is remains purely in the gutter. If I was twelve, this may be a titillating read, but I just expect more from my books--and much better writing at that.

Although this book is listed as a romance, I would have listed it as romance/erotica. There is certainly a lot of hot, graphic sex. Ms. O’Brien does a very good job of writing sex scenes, and I consider her one of the best authors for erotica. However, this book seemed to be lacking a well-developed story line.

There are three main characters. Claire Barker is a software/computer whiz who is in a partnership with her best friend, Sarah, the marketing/sales expert in the company. Their company is extremely successful and has made it to top in the field. Sarah’s sister, Alex Williams is the other have part of the lovefest. She is a world-renowned fashion photographer who has spent years traveling overseas. However, Alex is looking for a change and wishes to do more artistic photography which she can present in shows. Claire has always had a major crush on Alex so when Alex returns home a sexual whirlwind begins.

I did not feel there was much of a story line. In fact, I thought this book had the weakest story line of all of O’Brien’s books. A reader could open the book to any chapter and find some degree of sex taking place between Clare and Alex.

The character development was a little weak. Claire’s character is a femme who is insecure when she is around her life-long crush. Alex is a strong-butch character who is very experienced in sex. Also, I had a problem with some of the language.

I rate this book 2-1/2 stars out of 5.

I was given this ARC from NetGalley and Bold Stroke Books in return for a fair and honest review

Let's be honest, this is basically an erotica novel with a tiny bit of romance thrown in. If you're in to a hard core graphic love scenes every ten pages or so, you're going to love this book. Meghan O'Brien is one of the best at those kind of sex scenes anyways. But if you're looking for a slow building romance with hot sex thrown in, this is not the book for you.

I'm of the thought that I like a little buildup or conflict/discussions between characters before they hit the sheets, hence the three stars. I felt like the whole relationship was very rushed. This may be acceptable to some since Alex and Claire supposedly grew up together but you don't get ANY of those stories. You barely get real interaction between the two best friends Claire and Sarah to even really feel the whole "best friend's sister."

I also barely know what the two main characters look like besides one being dorky and they other being butch with big hands. So much detail goes in to the sex scenes but barely any on what they actually look like to help you imagine?

Overall it wasn't one of my favorites from this authors but again, it doesn't suck as a straight up erotica novel. I'm hoping her next book gives more of a buildup.

It just wasn’t my kind of book. On the first page masturbation was discussed several times and that’s what the whole book was about – talking about sex, having sex masturbation and a very weak storyline in between. If somebody enjoys erotica I guess they would enjoy this book but I just don’t enjoy this genre.