Holly: We skipped last week because we were all busy, so I’m doing 2 weeks in one. Not that I have much to report. We threw my grandmother a surprise 80th birthday party last weekend, so I was pretty busy with that. I read Fluency by Jennifer Foehner Wells last week, which I discovered while browsing for WTF Covers and picked up on a whim. It wasn’t too bad. It was slow in parts and I’m irritated that it ended in a cliffhanger, but overall I enjoyed it. I started the second book, Remanence, but I didn’t get far before I set it aside. I don’t know if I’ll go back to it or not. Book 1 was enjoyable, but I don’t know if I’m interested in continuing the series. I also started The Goal by Elle Kennedy, but once again set it aside around the middle of chapter 1. It just isn’t grabbing me. I’ll try again later. I re-read Soaring by Kristen Ashley, though it barely counts since I skimmed a lot.
This week I still had a lot of family in town. Most of my time was taken up with that, getting ready for Thanksgiving (OMFG how is that next week already??) and spending time with my daughters, so I had another light reading week. I re-read Dying to Please by Linda Howard. I love Sarah, the heroine. I started Moonshadow by Thea Harrison (EEEE!!), but I’m barely into it. My baby is turning 5 this weekend, so I doubt I’ll have much reading time. I hope to finish it tonight, but we’ll see.
Rowena: It’s been a long ass couple of weeks but I’m getting some reading done (thank goodness). This week I read Shut Up and Kiss Me by Jessica Lemmon (liked it), Downed by Jen Frederick (loved it) and right now I’m finishing up First Step Forward by Liora Blake (really liking it) before starting Idol by Kristen Callihan. I’m on a roll and I’m hoping that this reading mojo stays with me for the rest of the year. Wish me luck on that. 🙂
What are you reading this week? Any new favorites or books that drove you crazy? Share!
The last couple of weeks I’ve read Do You Want to Start a Scandal by Tessa Dare, which is exactly what I needed to read at that moment. It was sweet with some great dialogue and low angst.
I also read A Study in Scarlet Women by Sherry Thomas. This one I started and realized it was going to require a more active reading level than I was prepared to give so I put it down for many days. When I recommitted to reading it, I ending up enjoying it with some reservations. There’s a few times Charlotte gets bailed out by a male friend instead of being forced to rely on her own resources, although that is probably accurate for the time period. It also starts out with a lot of different perspectives. We don’t get to Charlotte’s point of view until quite a ways into the book, so that was kind of annoying. I also wasn’t a huge fan of Charlotte’s love interest being married but nothing really happens between them and I have hope that it will be handled well throughout the series.
I also read The Single Undead Moms and Where the Wild Things Bite by Molly O’Keefe both were solid additions to the Half Moon Hollow series.
Currently I’m reading an arc of A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn and I’m enjoying it so far.
Aww, wasn’t Charlotte just great in Do You Want to Start a Scandal? I really enjoyed that book and am so glad that you did too. 🙂
I have a Sherry Thomas book on my TBR list for the next week or so, Delicious? I think that’s it.
I hope you have a great reading week, Celine!
Delicious is my favorite Sherry Thomas book. I’ll be interesting in hearing what you think of it.
Well, I’m only slightly jealous, Holly, that you’re already reading the next Thea Harrison book.
In the past couple of weeks I’ve read ~
— re-read Laura Florand’s The Chocolate Thief, The Chocolate Temptation, The Chocolate Rose, The Chocolate Heart, Shadowed Heart, and a prequel which no longer seems to be available: Night Wish.
— the historical male/male romance The Soldier’s Scoundrel by Cat Sebastian which I enjoyed. I suspect this is a book I’ll be re-reading.
— Shifter Planet by D.B. Reynolds. It was a pleasant read, but I’d hoped that the heroine’s special talent would have played a larger role in the story. I’d describe this book as a futuristic science fiction paranormal romance.
— Take Me Home Tonight (Rock Star Romance Book 3) by Erika Kelly. It was a pleasant read and I enjoyed it; however, it might have benefited by being twenty percent shorter.
— The One in My Heart which is Sherry Thomas’ first contemporary romance. I enjoyed it quite a bit. If you have an interest in the Lord of the Rings books, this will hold even more interest for you.
— Break My Fall by Jessica Scott which was a pleasant read but not one of my favorites by this author.
— M.L. Buchman’s Heart Strike (Delta Force). It’s not my favorite of his books, but I enjoyed it.
— the historical romance Someone To Love (A Westcott Novel) by Mary Balogh; I did enjoy, it but it’s not amongst my favorites by the author. I read the book with particular interest because of allegations of racism that were raised by some reviewers.
— The Transcriptionist: A Novel by Amy Rowland for my book group. It was an interesting and quick read but none of us loved it.
— a re-read of Roan Parrish’s In the Middle of Somewhere. I’d been inspired to revisit this male/male romance after recently reading the second book in the series. I enjoyed it once again. Now I’d like to read third book.
— Emily Gee’s fantasy Thief With No Shadow which I quite enjoyed. I’d be happy to read more by this author. I think this would be appropriate for all readers including teens.
— I also read a couple of short novellas; they were pleasant, but I’m not sure I’ll read more by the author, Cate Rowan. Swords and Scimitars (Alaia Chronicles: Legends, #1) and Sword and Lute (Alaia Chronicles: Legends, #2).
Another great reading week for you , Kareni. I’m always so jealous at the amount of books you read each week. I wish. 🙂 I’ve been seeing The One in My Heart by Sherry Thomas around but I haven’t paid much attention to it. I’m going to go back and add it to my list though. It looks good.
I didn’t get much reading done last week, just wasn’t in the mood to do much of anything, but I’m trying to make up for it this week. I read and enjoyed the following:
– To Love A Wolf, the latest in Paige Tyler’s werewolf SWAT PNR series
– I Thee Wed, a cute Regency by Celeste Bradley with a logical English scientist hero and a passionate Italian scientist heroine
– Give Up the Ghost, the second in a ghost hunters PNR series by Kelly Moran (really enjoying this whole series)
– Worked Up, by Tessa Bailey – The hero is a big gruff factory master mechanic with a bit of a beer belly, 4 divorced sisters who live with him, and the desire for nothing more than to watch SportsCenter in peace. Tessa always brings the dirty talk, but wowza, this one was especially hot.
– Finally, my favorite of the last few weeks was Idol by Kristen Callihan. Lots of good banter, which I desperately needed to cheer me up.
I’m currently in the middle of Longbourn by Jo Baker, a Pride and Prejudice re-imagining from the POV of the Bennet servants. The Bennet family is present only peripherally in the story. It’s really more of an examination of life for the servant class in Regency England. There’s lots of period detail and descriptions of daily living (mainly consisting of a lot of hard work), but it’s not dry or boring. I’m enjoying it, but I may end up putting it down for a bit just because it’s a bit heavier of a read than I want right now.
Oh man, you’ve just made my day. I’m still in the early pages of Idol by Kristen Callihan so it’s been really easy for me to put down (even though I’m liking what I’m reading) but I’m glad to see that you really enjoyed it because I’m going to dive right back in now. Have you read Managed yet?
Lousy week here and boy could I use some reading time, but that’s not in the cards as I’m drowning in homework and work. Sigh. At least I can enjoy hearing about what everyone else is reading!
Awww, I hope things slow down some for you so that you can get some reading done. What books are you looking forward to reading?
Rowena, I am so glad to see you loved Downed! I am reading that one soon and I am so excited!!
I did like it a lot. You have loads to look forward to. I liked that Ace was redeemed but was still the jerk we all know and his heroine is wonderful! Happy reading, Samantha!
I can hardly believe that Thanksgiving is coming up so soon!!! It feels like Halloween was just last week. I think its so great Holly you have family and your Grandmother’s birthday, must be a great fun time!!! I haven’t read the Goal yet, but I love all the other books in the series. Hope you get back to it.
Rowena-How are you doing? I agree that it has been a long couple of weeks. So long and stressful, hope with the holidays that life brings some good things, we definitely need some joy and peace right now!! Oh I am so thrilled that you will be starting to read Idol soon. I really liked that one, and its unique for a rock star theme. I will have to look up Downed. I have been hearing some great things about that one. Enjoy your weekend.
Hey Renee!! 🙂 Yes, I’m so ready for some joy and cheer in my life. I’m reading Idol right now and so far, it’s pretty good. I’m pretty anxious to get Managed read too. Yay.
Downed is the third book in the Gridiron series by Jen Frederick. If you like the Off Campus series by Elle Kennedy, you should definitely try this series out. They’re both great!