I discovered JA Huss through her Social Media series, and I loved her writing style. However, The Dirty Ones turned out to be one of her best in a long time. From page one, I was hooked. It was the way she wrote the story that kept me wanting more. She would give us a little...and then make us wait. Then in the next chapter she'd add another layer...maybe do a flashback, give us a hint of something. It was the perfect mix of mystery, terror and erotica. I loved not being able to figure out just what the hell was going on. What a mind trip. Give me more of this, Julie. Give me more!

What was running through my head while reading this? Y'all. Just. Read. It. Already. It being the (non-fiction) book featuring the characters driving this story. That would've saved time and needless angst. Instead, they have a 30 course dinner no one wanted and then meandering arguments or conversations or refusing to look at it until they're all there to read it aloud.

It's more suspense (kept thinking of Clue) with erotica elements. Those erotic moments are built up but not long or too descriptive leaving it unfulfilled. There are numerous details that don’t make sense, bog down the pace or don’t become fulfilled - not sure why all three women are erotica writers, who remained friends with each other years later is a little confusing, 2 deaths (how or why), a 97-room house with an escaped mental patient running around in the walls while they have dinner and a team of police and doctors are on site searching for her while they have a 30 course dinner no one eats. The characters were confused, but I didn't expect to be confused for so long and left wondering if it all even happened or their motivations.

There’s also a hot mess of feelings they each have for each other (especially Sophia, Keira, Conner). The three of them didn’t quite work for me or his attraction to both women vs. the one he wants to be with. I would’ve preferred that relationship stay in the past rather than happen again in the present. This was my main issue that tainted the story. All that to say, I liked the scenes with Conner and Keira alone the most. I felt their connection which is why Sophia thrown in there was confusing.

The story an original idea, but didn’t hook me with all the minutia and confusion.

Spicy and fast paced in true Huss fashion!!! I had an absolute blast reading this. Romance fans, this is for you. Loved it!!!

This book was so unexpected....what a rollercoaster ride! Mystery, twists and intrigue with well developed characters. Loved this book!

JA Huss writes such sexy books that you can’t help but want more. While they aren’t for everyone, her books are steamy and leave you panting. Her males are hard to love but her writing will leave you invested and wanting more!

The Dirty Ones by JA Huss. A Hot sexy read. We rated Five stars. Loved it. New author for us, but excited about reading more.

Warning: I feel I should warn you that this book is dark and will fuck with your minds. If you think you can handle it, go ahead and enjoy the ride but you have been warned.

I'm starting my review by saying that this book was a big mind fuck and I had such a great time reading it. No matter how confused the story made me at times, when I got into it I couldn't put it down.

Connor and Keira are the main couple in this story but they are not, at least in my opinion, the only main characters in this story. We have a whole cast of characters, a group of friends that include this couple, that will make you go round and round, pulling your hair sometimes and pressing your nose against your e-reader at other times.

In the beginning, I found it hard to understand what was going on. JA Huss started the story part way in, or in the middle, but the reader was dropped in the middle of something and it took me a couple of chapters to understand what was all about. I think that was a brilliant move from the author's part because it hooks the reader. It certainly hooked me.

The plot was full of twists and turns that made me feel confused, scared, confused again and a whole lot of emotions that I could be talking about them for a long time. It was like a big giant puzzle and you didn't know if you were doing it right or wrong because you didn't have the instructions. Sometimes you didn't know what was real and what wasn't.

As much as I enjoyed the myriad of emotions, the twist, and turns of the plot, the amazing cast of characters that completed The Dirty Ones, the confusion I faced most of the time and the dark undertone of the story pushed me out of the book more than once.

I had to read The Dirty Ones in conjunction with another book because I couldn't stay inside the story for more than one chapter at a time until the 20% mark. I read one chapter of The Dirty Ones and then one chapter of another romance novel that I decided to read. I don't do this, read 2 books at a time, but I was so scared and confused that I just couldn't commit to this book alone.

Dark Romance is a sub-genre of Romance that I don't read as much as I would like, primarily because I'm a scary-cat but also because I prefer my romances steamy and in the grey spectrum of colors. What drove me to pick The Dirty Ones was the fact that I've seen and heard so much about JA Huss and I wanted to read her work.

I'm not disappointed at all. I was expecting the emotions, the confusion, the fear, as much as I expected to love the book, which I did. I know it's confusing but I just can't give the book less than 5 stars because it just blew my mind when I finally got into it.

If you're thinking of reading this book, I would absolutely recommend it. I would just advice you to see if any of the warnings the author put up could trigger you because there are some seriously dark themes in this story. Besides that, enjoy.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book provided by Netgalley. The opinions expressed are my own.

YES! A thousand times, yes! I have been a fan of J.A. Huss for quite some time and I have to say this author did not let me down. I am in love with The Dirty Ones.

Before I even opened the Kindle book, I was hooked by what was written as the synopsis, however, I felt the this to be more of a psychological thriller with erotica scenes thrown in. The story is set over ten years ago, wrapped around a secret that no one knows..until Kiera, a bestselling erotica writer exposes their secret. Now everyone knows about the secret about the tower. But now, it’s time to expose who the dirty ones are.

Are you ready because I don’t think they are…

Hands down, amazing! The Dirty Ones is truly a captivating story that will keep you at the edge of your seat as you learn more and more about the characters. This is one book you wouldn’t want to pass up. I was honored to be able to not only get an early copy but jumping with complete and utter glee when the book hit my kindle.

So, what are you waiting for? Find out what happened ten years ago.

It’s obvious why you picked up this book. You’re a big J.A. Huss fan. Me too. Huss is a writer of dark romance with enough sexy time to titillate even the most jaded erotica fan. She writes dirty books, hence the title, hence why we’re all here. The Dirty Ones has enough kink to entertain those of us that enjoy the exxxtra. Casual readers may find The Dirty Ones hits all the right spots, but if you like a little story, i.e. mystery, college crush, family drama etc with the GOOD (dirty) parts than you may find this story a little wanting. It has the requisite hero, who thinks he’s an alpha, but is really just a man-child that can’t commit and the heroine is less woman hear me roar, and more flakey arteest; both generally likable, but don’t look too hard or you may see the cracks. Huss is known for emotional wrangling and tortured characters - all to fine effect (check out Tragic), but The Dirty Ones just feels tortured. The dual POVs, the secondary characters that are too thin to make an impression, and the time jumps do not make the mystery i.e. the entire premise of the story come alive. The Dirty Ones has a looong lead up to the big reveal, which does not have the cache to make it worth the wait. The Dirty Ones is best explained by one of its characters, “a bunch of very f*d up people and it's all downhill from here.”

Hmmm... I don’t quite know where to start with this review. This book was well written. You can tell a lot of thought was put into it. It flowed perfectly. But even though it flowed. It still felt kinda slow. It took a long time to get answers or just to move along in the story. It just felt like things were being rehashed and rehashed.

I’m not really into the whole suspense/mystery thing in books. Maybe just a little. But this book was all mystery. It also felt like it was a soap opera. After every chapter it felt like it would fade to black and pick up again in a new chapter. It felt like at the end of a every chapter it would leave off in a cliffhanger. More questions would be asked instead of just getting to the story and answers.
It got old pretty quick. That’s why I stopped watching soaps. The never ending drama. And the never ending storylines. It would takes weeks and months for a secret to be revealed. And unfortunately... it felt like this too... while reading this book.

The BIG reveal...came wayyyyy to late in the book. And I mean late. And when it was all revealed. I wished it had been a different reason. All I felt was bad for Hayes, Bennett, Sofia, Emily, Conner & Kiera.

Overall is was an ok read for me. For my first JA Huss Book. She definitely peaked my interest in her other books. I will definitely be reading more books from her.

Fans of Donna Tartt's The Secret History will love this dark and sexy book. You are best off not reading any details about this book. Just dive in, and enjoy the experience.

Wowed. This was a supercharged romantic suspense thriller. I'm not sure why I'm so surprised since this author seriously can do no wrong. Her writing is so flawless and her imagination is unlike any other. You may think you know where the story is going but you will be wrong. 5++++ stars

A twist on your usual erotica this was also intrigue and confusion. I wanted to like it but after about a third I was lost and then lost interest.

"They told me to write what I know so that's what I did. I wrote dirty. I wrote erotic. I wrote the truth. And then they called me a liar. But it's not me who's lying. It's them."

The reviews on this book were SO good...lots of 4 and 5 stars. Therefore, I really wanted to like this book too, but sadly to say, I just didn't. I don't want to say this book was terrible, because at least the writing itself was decent. The plot however was awful and I found myself getting extremely bored and I definitely rolled my eyes every five minutes. Maybe it's me (I don't read so many romance or erotica novels), or maybe this book is like Sharknado -- so bad it's good? I just don't know.

The story is told from the alternating perspectives of Connor Arlington and Kiera Bonnaire (Connor is on track to be a Senator (his father's dream not his) and Kiera is an erotica writer - but more on that later).

The book opens with Connor finding a book called "The Dirty Ones" at the airport. And I guess since this name was uber original / unique or something, he immediately knew that the book was about his time at college, when he and five other people (who called themselves "The Dirty Ones") were blackmailed into performing sexual acts on each other...or were they?? Was it all in their heads?? End of book nonsensical plot twist alert! Connor becomes very angry because he thinks that Kiera wrote the book (which could ruin his chances at being Senator (which he didn't want to be anyway, so what's the real issue??)), and so he goes to confront her at her cottage in Vermont.

The plot unfolds from there. Essentially, "The Dirty Ones" were a group of rich kids from prominent uber rich families, all except for Kiera who came from a "long line of erotica writers" (what???). She was only included in the blackmail to write down all the "dirty" acts the group performed on each other...because the blackmailers knew she would be an erotica writer too(?). What qualifies as "dirty" is pretty "normal" stuff like hetero sex, sometimes in a three-some or a four-some (honestly, I thought the 50 Shades kind of sex was dirtier). The group of blackmailers was not known until the last 10% of the book, and I was super disappointed in the big reveal. I thought it was going to be some mason or other fraternity cult stuff, but alas it was not.

The sex scenes were steamy, but didn't seem to fit with the plot...actually they confused the plot even more. The characters were one-dimensional and not very engaging. There were a lot of things that didn't seem to make sense in the book, but I can't really go into them without spoiling the ending, which I will not do.

If you decide to read this book, I would recommend going in with very low expectations for plot or storyline, and just enjoy the steamy scenes for what they are!

4 <b>We are the Dirty Ones </b> Stars
This … wow… I requested an ARC of this book due to reading (321) , Come, and initially discovering her in the Bend anthology. So I know.. she is not your typical flowers and roses kind of romance writer. Which how awesome and refreshing! She weaves stories of ménage, hard decision and confusion in all the books I have read. This story is no different. I would even say this could be rated as a romantic psychological thriller in my opinion. Now I am new at the genre but it was a HUGE enough plot twist that I think it fits the category well.
This story is about the dirty ones which is a collection of adults that all were called the dirty ones in their senior year of university. They were tasked to complete various things each week to fulfill the needs of a stranger with severe punishments if they didn’t do them. I think the story was unique and dirty if not at times a bit jumbled. This book did however solidify my enjoyment of the author and I cant wait for the next book.

Connor, Kiera, Hayes, Sofia, Camille, and Bennet; six friends, some who have known each other forever. Six Socialites, part of the New York’s High Society Crowd. Six secrets. Six friends forever linked by one year in their lives. The year they were selected. The year they entered “the game”. The year where everything took place in the mysterious tower of their prestigious school. The year they were forced to document. The documentation that is now on the New York Times bestseller list. The book with the secrets that could have it all crashing down around them. But who wrote the book? And were there really on six of them. How does Emily fit in all of this, how did she end up in a mental hospital, how did she escape, has she been found? And Louise, where is she? Was she ever there?
I don’t really know what to say or how to describe this book. I will say this…. TOTAL.MINE. FUCK. By the end I didn’t know whether to be impressed or pissed off with the author. Twists, turns, ups, downs, whos, whats, hows, whens, wheres…. this was throughout the entire book. The crazy sex, the ménage a trois, the foursomes, group sex…Nothing in this book was what it seemed. The whole secret society was like a throwback to movies like The Skulls, Gossip, Cruel Intentions.
Told from the POV of Connor and Kiera, you know that whatever happens heavily involves them but you just can’t figure out how since they have seen each other in ten years yet everyone else had remained in constant contact. Even they’ve remained in constant contact with the others, just not with each other. They are most definitely attracted to each other and always have been but again, what does it have to do with everything that’s going on?
You might not know much but you do know that the publication of that mysterious book will unleash a lot of secretes and set quite a few people free.
There were a few times when I was confused as to who was talking but for the most part this was a most interesting read.

Okay, guys… I’m going to keep this review short and sweet. Why, you ask? Because, like, aren’t I one of the longest-winded humans you’ve ever met? (Yes, I’m sure I am. I fully own that writerly character flaw. 🤣) The reason is simple: This is one of those books you quite simply MUST read for yourself.

The Dirty Ones by J. A. Huss is a romantic suspense unlike any you’ve read before. I spent the first quarter of the book scratching my head and going, “Wait, what?” I also spent most of that time quivering in my boots because I had absolutely NO CLUE what was to come and sensed it was gonna be a doozy. And… it is. Trust me, it is. I’m not going to say any more because I’m not sure I’d be able to reel myself in without giving spoilers or going down some crazy tangent that has everyone scratching their heads and going, “Huh?”

Just trust me. If you have any interest whatsoever in cis heterosexual romantic suspense novels, do yourself a favor and invest some time in this one. It’s one of those reads I’ll be thinking about for years to come. It dug deep and took root. For better or worse… but I’m gonna go with “for better.”

This was quite a strange and intracate tale, mystery, intreigue, murder, and sex!
I'm not a huge mystery fan but this did hold my interest and managed to surprise me.

An okay story with a good almost perfect plot. Got a little distracted a third of the way through but did finish.

5 Stars
Reviewed by Allyson
Up All Night w/ Books Blog

“Memory is an unreliable thing.”

Anticipation of ups and downs, twists and turns that transpire into gaping mouth moments with a thousand shock value in The Dirty Ones by JA Huss!

This novel spoke to me in ways I can’t even fathom putting into words for others to read, it’s that good. I, myself love the “messy, tangled” dark romances. The ones that make you cringe but ultimately give you the HEA in the end. And with The Dirty Ones, Huss delivered! She spoke to me with the fiction she created. With reading in between the lines, she put her soul as an author into this novel and I commend her for this. There are phrases that as a die-hard romance genre fan, really resonated with me and for that... 5+ Stars!

“Because the dark side of love intrigues people.”

At times I wondered, “is this the Clue version in book form?” A mind numbing read that will have you scratching your head at points wondering ‘what the?’

Can a book really dictate your future holdings? Turning your world upside down, even a decade later? When seven individuals are reunited they relive the Dirty Years, for good or for bad. Will it change the course of their future?

“That stupid book. Everything was fine until that book showed up and everything is not.”

Huss knows how to embrace and add an abundance of steam to the intimate, delicate and erotic scenes within these pages. I highly suggest you don’t just graze through Amazon looking for your next romantic fix, The Dirty Ones is your next one-click, Epic novel for sure!!

*ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.*