Monthly Reads: December 2015

Posted January 13, 2016 by Rowena in Features | 22 Comments

MR-New

Rowena: With the holidays and end of the year madness, it’s not a surprise that I didn’t get a lot of books read. But here’s what I did read in December 2015.

  1. Controlled Burn (Boston Fire #2) by Shannon Stacey | 4 out of 5
  2. Dirty Deeds (Mechanics of Love #3) by Megan Erickson | 4 out of 5
  3. Saving Grace (Love Under the Big Sky #2.5) by Kristen Proby | 2.75 out of 5
  4. Did I Mention I Love You? (DIMILY #1) by Estelle Maskame | 1 out of 5
  5. Dukes Prefer Blondes (Dressmakers #4) by Loretta Chase | 4.75 out of 5
  6. Lord Dashwood Missed Out (Spindle Cove #4.5) by Tessa Dare | 3.75 out of 5
  7. Scorched (Frigid #2) by Jennifer L. Armentrout | 2.5 out of 5
  8. The Deal (Off-Campus #1) by Elle Kennedy (re-read) | 5 out of 5
  9. The Mistake (Off-Campus #2) by Elle Kennedy (re-read) | 4.5 out of 5

My favorite read of the month Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase. I loved the hero and the heroine, the dry humor and the romance. Everything about both Oliver and Lady Clara worked for me, even Oliver’s obnoxious, always has to be right and snooty attitude toward everyone. I loved how he thought he was smarter than everyone and how Lady Clara called him on every little thing. Their story was fun, funny and charmed the socks right off of me.

My least favorite book was hands down, Did I Mention I Love You? by Estelle Maskame. The romance in that book drove me up the wall just as much as the main character and the love interest did. After finishing this book, I started wondering if maybe I’m getting over my love of YA contemporary romances. I’m starting to get pissed at the shit choices these young folks keep making. shrugs I guess we’ll see.

Holly: I read 14 books in December, but the majority were re-reads.

  1. Saving Grace by Julie Garwood (re-read) | 5/5
  2. Honor’s Splendour by Julie Garwood (re-read) | 5/5
  3. Lord of Scoundrels (re-read) | 5/5
  4. The Friend Zone by Kristen Callihan (re-read) | 4.5/5
  5. Ride Steady by Kristen Ashley (re-read) | 4.5/5
  6. Heart of Obsidian by Nalini Singh (re-read) | 4.5/5
  7. The Deal by Elle Kennedy (re-read) | 4.5/5
  8. Liam Takes Manhattan by Thea Harrison | 3.5/5
  9. The Legend of Lyon Redmond by Julie Anne Long (re-read) | 4.5/5
  10. Soul of Smoke by Caitlyn McFarland | 3/5
  11. Coming Back by Lauren Dane | 3.75/5
  12. Truth of Embers by Caityln McFarland | 4/5
  13. Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs | 4.5/5
  14. The Score by Elle Kennedy | 4/5

Of the six new books I read, Fire Touched and The Score were my favorites. I was so angry at Adam at the end of Night Broken, but by the 1/4 mark of Fire Touched I was no longer mad at him. I didn’t expect to love Dean as much as I did in The Score. Kennedy has done such a fabulous job with that series.

My least favorite read was Soul of Smoke. I really liked the world, but the heroine drove me batty.

This month we’re giving away:


Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase
The Score by Elle Kennedy (digital format only)

So…what was your favorite read of the month? Your least favorite? Use the Rafflecopter Widget to enter! Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


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22 responses to “Monthly Reads: December 2015

  1. Favourite – Do Not Wash Hands in Plates (travelogue, which is unusual for me). Least favourite – I’d rather not say (it was a new adult title and no, it wasn’t one by Elle Kennedy!).

  2. I read some great novellas in December. Particularly, “A Pirate for Christmas” by Anna Campbell and “His Road Home” by Anna Richland (I guess I’m into Annas?)… seasonally appropriate, well written, and very satisfying.

  3. Kareni

    My most recent favorite was Dark Horse by Michelle Diener. I finished it and then re-read it the next day! Least favorite? I had a couple of books that I started but did not finish. One was The Accidental Alchemist by Gigi Pandian. Had it been the only book in the house, I’d probably have given it more of a chance. So not finishing it may have been more about my own mood.

    I’d love to win The Score by Elle Kennedy.

    • I’m a mood reader too and I used to bulldoze my way through books, even when I didn’t like them but not these days. These days, I’ll DNF a book if I’m not into it, not in the mood, any reason at all. It happens like that sometimes.

  4. I read only 14 books in December. But one of them, Sarah MacLean’s The Rogue Not Taken, made it to my “Best of 2015” list. Easily, it was my favorite of the month. My least favorite was Keeper’s Reach by Carla Neggers. This is book 5 in her Sharpe & Donovan romantic suspense series. I found it predictable and a bit slow compared to others in the series.

    • Ahhh, I haven’t read the new Sarah MacLean yet but boy am I looking forward to it. It’s on my iPad just waiting to be enjoyed. I’m glad to see that you loved it. I’m even more anxious now. 🙂

  5. Sue G.

    My favorite December 2015 read would be First Touch by Laurelin Paige. So many twists and turns…I just could not put this book down and I am dying for the next book. It ended not on one, but TWO cliffhangers!

    My least favorite would be Can’t Hold Back by Serena Bell. I really liked this book ( I rated it 4 out of 5 stars) but I didn’t read a lot of books and this was my lowest ranking. 🙂

  6. erinf1

    My favorite was the Deal 🙂 I fiiiinally read it and I’m kicking myself for not reading it sooner. Getting ready to dive into book 2. My least fav and it was also a DNR was Stately Pleasures by Lucy Felthouse. It had been on my kindle for an age and I decided to finally try it. Well… basically the heroine is blackmailed into becoming a sex slave for a billionaire and his best buddy by very despicable means. Hit all of my outrage buttons and I stopped reading after few chapters. I have too many books to read to force myself to read something that horrid.

    • *grin* Wasn’t The Deal amazing? I’m completely obsessed with that series. I love it so much! You have much to look forward to with the other books. I’m low key jealous that you get to read the yummy-ness of both Logan and Dean for the first time.

      Your DNF sounds awful. It doesn’t sound like anything I would want to read. grrr.

  7. i’m so excited to read the score! someone told me it’s even better than the deal–if that’s true WOAH!! because i don’t know if anything can top the deal. it’s NA perfection.

  8. JenM

    December was an excellent reading month for me. My favorite though was Good Time Bad Boy by Sonya Clark. It’s a stand-alone contemporary featuring a romance between a washed-up 40 YO country western singer and a 26 YO waitress. The age difference really wasn’t a big deal. He had more growing up and healing to do than she did so that kind of equaled them out. Also I like May/December romances anyway as long as both characters are mature. Honorable mention to Mystery Man by KA. Would you believe I’d never read it? It was great to finally read the back story between Gwen and Tack. Of course, I then had to do a reread of Motorcycle Man LOL.

    Least favorite was Her Wild Hero by Paige Tyler. I’ve just started reading her SWAT series and have really been enjoying it, but couldn’t get into this book. I picked it up because the hero was bear shifter, but the book was romantic suspense, which I don’t really like that much and set in the jungle which is one of my least favorite tropes, so it just didn’t work for me. That’s not at all a judgement on the book – anyone who likes those tropes would probably enjoy it.

    I would absolutely love to win The Score. I finally picked up The Deal and The Mistake when they went on sale and they are at the top of my TBR mountain.

  9. Ana

    Can’t wait to read The Score. I would love to win.
    My fav read in December was Rebecca Grace Allen’s His Contract. Awesome book.

  10. Kim

    I finally read The Legend of Lyon Redmond and that was my favorite for the month. I didn’t have a lot of reading time in December, so I don’t have a least favorite.

  11. Ada

    My favorite was It Started With a Scandal by Julie Anne Long, I just love her Pennyroyal books. Definitely one of my favorite series. All the books I read were pretty good this month, didn’t really have a least favorite!

  12. Anita H.

    I hardly had much time for reading in December since it was crazy busy but I did love Sarah Morgan’s Sleigh Bells In The Snow. It was a fun and sexy read, I have the rest of this series on my TBR list. I also didn’t have a least favorite this month. Thanks for the chance to win, Lorretta Chase’s Dukes Prefer Blondes is on my wish list!!!

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