I apparently can’t ever get this post up on Sundays any longer. Oh well…it goes up eventually! lol
Things are a lot less stressful at the Tracy household and that’s a great thing!
I read a lot of books this week so I’ll get right into it. 🙂
First up was my DIK Reading Challenge book: The Secret Pearl by Mary Balogh. I very much enjoyed this book that was on Jenre’s list. I’ve had it on my shelf since the end of July and have been meaning to read it but never quite pulled it off the shelf. You can read my review here. 4 out of 5
Next up I read Gaven by JC Owens. This was a fantasy m/m story that started with a siege on a castle/holding. The only survivor is Gaven. He is all about escaping his enemies, even it they say that their warlord is Gaven’s father. It’s an interesting story but I kept wanting more information. Hopefully there will be a sequel to this book. 3.5 out of5
Katiebabs asked me to do some mini reviews for her for some shorts she got from Breathless Press. When the post went up I was confused about this statement that KB made: “And since Tracy from Tracy’s Place is a much more skilled reviewer than I am when it comes to these particular books…” and I had to email her to ask he what exactly that meant. She meant that she can’t do a review in less than 800 words! Holy mackeral! lol Well, I was happy to help her out in her time of need. I read Biohazard by Honoria Ravena 3 out of 5, Harder by Jamieson Wolf 4 out of 5 and The Soldier’s Return by Ava Delany 3.5 out of 5 and you can go top KB’s blog here and read my mini’s.
Next up was Archangel’s Kiss by Nalini Singh. This book comes out tomorrow but I was lucky enough to get an ARC from The Book Binge. Great book. I love Nalini Singh. That woman could write a laundry list and I would adore it. 🙂 I’ll let you know when my review on TBB posts.
My next read was Inland Empire by James Buchanan. A fantastic book that I just loved. This is the second book in the Nicky and Brandon series and I highly recommend that if you read m/m that you read this series. Good stuff. Review here. 5 out of 5
Next was Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare. This was another great read and one I recommend for those of you who read historical romances. The story of Lucy who is in love with her brother’s friend Toby, only Toby is about to get engaged to Sophia. Another of Lucy’s brother’s friends is Jeremy and he takes over trying to keep Lucy away from Toby – only Jeremy starts thinking of Lucy as a woman and not just his friends little sister. Lucy, who’s 19, eventually realizes she’s not in love with Toby, she’s in love with Jeremy. They get married, but can they live HEA? This was just a lovely book. It was funny and there was never a dull moment in the book. I’ve already loaded book 2 onto my ereader! 4.5 out of 5
My Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week was Smart Ass: Close Quarters by Amber Green and LB Gregg. One Good Turn by Amber Green…Kendall is being secreted away by Turner so that they can give each other an alibi for a murder that neither one of them committed. Turner is the man that Kendall has had fantasies about since his boyhood. But Turner is supposedly his cousin…but is he really? This was a fun book and I really liked Green’s writing – but I was left with so many questions after it was done! Questions about Kendall’s family, Turner and his feelings for Kendall, who really did it, etc., etc. As with Gaven, I hope there’s a sequel that will answer some of these and the other questions I had. 3.75 out of 5. Gobsmacked by LB Gregg was the other story in this book. While I’ve read the book before it was just as good, if not better, than the first time around. Mark goes nuts after he finds his boyfriend cheating on him and then finds out that his man has also stolen all his money! He enlists the help of cop, long time friend and past crush, Tony. Tony’s got the hots for Mark and has for a while. Tony’s great for calming Mark down…and ramping him up. Great story, hot book. If you haven’t read it, you should. 4.25 out of 5
Last but not least was a re-read. I started reading Moon Craving by Lucy Monroe for TBB (which is book 2 in the Children of the Moon series) and though I partially remembered the details of book 1, it had been a good year and a half since I’d read it. So I decided to re-read Moon Awakening once again and get caught up on all that was happening in the series. Emily is sent to Scotland from England to marry a Laird – only the Laird, Talorc, wants nothing to do with her. Emily and Talorc’s preggo sister, Cait, get kidnapped by a rival clan and get taken away. Emily finds herself falling in love with the rival clan’s Laird, Lachlan, but Lachlan is a shape changer and is determined to not marry a human. Only he’s falling in love with Emily and this is making things quite tense between the two. I really liked this book the first time and this was no different. I’m looking forward to what Moon Craving brings to the series. 4.25 out of 5
Happy Reading!!
Oh and FYI my reading list for January went up if you’re interested.
I had slight issues with Harder in that they didn't use a condom. Yeah, it's fiction, it's fantasy, but I was kind of screaming at Owen in my head to grab a clue and a condom at the same time. LOL
I found One Good Turn slightly confusing with all the Kendalls and who was related to whom and were they really. Loved Gobsmacked though.
Yeah, the condom thing kind of irked me too, but I decided to ignore it. lol Apparently they did too. 🙂
I wasn't confused about who was who in OGT but I really didn't like being left with so many unanswered questions. I did like her writing style though. Have you read any of her other books?
And of course Gobsmacked was wonderful. 🙂
No I don't think I have. I guess it was the multitude of questions for me too.
Oh I have Gaven in my TBR but I'm not a huge fan of the fantasy genre so have been holding off even though lots of people said it's great.
Ok, I'll be prepared for the lack of condom thing in Harder. I seem to remember that as a complaint of mine about Hard, too.
Great, diverse list this week. For some reason, Mary Balogh's books haven't done it for me. I've read a few, and liked them, but couldn't remember a thing about them after I closed the last page.
So glad you liked GOTH, especially since we're likely to see her on Saturday! It would be bad if you hated it. Heh.
Agree 100% on Gobsmacked, of course. The opening scene in church is such a grabber right off the bat.
Can't wait to see you on Sat!
Tam – Gaven was a little harder for me to get into because I'm not usually a fantasy fan as well. Although I have read some great fantasy books. It was good – just very different but again many unanswered questions.
Chris – Yes, be prepared. 🙂
Lori – The two I've read have been great and I might read more of her stand alones, assuming she has more – but I don't think I could make it through a whole family series without stopping. 🙂
Yes, I really liked GOTH – I won't have to avoid her at lunch. lol
Gobsmacked – again, wonderful 🙂
Hmm. Nope, just skimmed Hard again, and the no condom thing wasn't an issue.
But also just finished Harder – not only no condom, but no lube?!?!???
Lube? We don't need no stinking lube! lol
"Lube? We don't need no stinking lube!"
ROFL Maybe he had one of those magical Japanese self-lubing holes we read about in yaoi.
LOL, this post is supposed to go up on Sundays? I thought Mondays! LOL. And I see you're back to your usual self 😀 Still in awe at how many books you can read 😀
Glad you enjoyed Archangel's Kiss. I'm really looking forward to that book.
Oh, an eclectic mix Tracy 🙂 With lots of tempting books! I have Gobsmacked to read now that I can read eBooks properly – YAH!
And I can't wait to read your review of Archangel's Kiss!
Tam- Uh, I haven't experienced that in the yaoi yet. LOL Wow, something to look forward to. 🙂
Nath – Well, when I first started doing the weekly post I did it on Sundays. But I've come to realize that it's very difficult to have family time on Sunday nights when I'm sitting at the computer! 🙂 And by the time the kids go to bed I'm beat and don't relish the thought of doing it. Lazy, I know. lol
Orannia – I can't wait to hear what you think of Gob!