Tag: JM Snyder

What I Read Last Week

Posted November 15, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 15 Comments

Well another great week was had.  Kris and I spent Monday and Tuesday playing and that was a ton of fun.  Then I was off on Thursday because of Veteran’s Day here in America so I got to spend some time with the kids.  They really didn’t want to go anywhere but we had a fun time hanging around the house, playing games and watching movies together.  Now it’s back to work – how the heck am I gonna make it through 5 full days of work? Yikes! lol
It was a good reading week. I read some really great books which is always nice!
First up was The Best Laid Plans by Sarah Mayberry.  This was a book that I received from Tell Harlequin for a survey.  The story was about a woman, Alex, who’d always wanted a home, family and definitely children.  She was with a guy for 7 years who adamantly refused even the thought of children – they finally parted ways.  She runs into him one day only about 18 months after their break up and he’s pushing a stroller with his 4 month old son in it because, oops, my girlfriend forgot a pill and oh well here’s the baby.  After seeing her ex she’s distraught.  Then her ob/gyn tells her that she’s getting along in years – she’s 38 – and that her chances of conceiving are getting slimmer every year.  After many different options are covered in her head she decides to use a sperm bank.  A fellow partner in her law firm who is also a friend, but not a close one, finds out about her decision and decides to offer his sperm since he always wanted a child.  He adamantly opposes any type of relationship though because he’s been hurt.  I liked the book but it was a bit predictable for my liking.  Ethan’s past was, imho, kept under wraps too long and the reveal was almost anti-climactic.  I also thought he changed his mind about Alex too quickly in the end.  So a good read but not great.  3.5 out of 5
Next was Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole.  This is book 10 in the Immortals after Dark series and it was a good one.  Malkolm is a demon who was turned into a vampire – and he hates vampires.  He now lives isolated in a realm where he waits daily for his chance to kill his mortal enemy. Carrow is a witch who is kidnapped by The Order (a group that wants to destroy all immortals) and blackmailed into stepping into Malkolm’s realm and bringing him back.  Carrow and Malkolm find themselves attracted to each other even though they don’t speak the same language and Malkolm is hooked.  But when Carrow takes Malkolm back to her realm Malkolm decides that he needs to kill Carrow.  Things aren’t always what they seem though so both Malkolm and Carrow have some lessons to learn.  I really liked this book.  I thought that Malkolm was too primitive for me at first and of course the whole wanting to kill Carrow thing was a bit much for me but he grew on me as a hero as the book went on.  I liked Carrow at times and others not so much.  I think she grew up a lot in this book and that was a good thing.  The trust between Malkolm and Carrow, in my opinion, was healed at the end of the book much too quickly but as I said I really liked it overall. 4.25 out of 5
Next was Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Clare London.  This story follows Garry who is in an airport in Scotland waiting for his friend Will (so they can go on Holiday with their friends) who was supposed to get in only an hour after Garry.  Well there’s a delay and he ends up waiting 10 hours!  Garry has a thing for Will but Will is taking a job and moving from London to America.  So Garry waits for Will during The Delay and in the time he waits he gets a lot of thinking done about himself and Will as well as getting quite a bit of great insight from 2 children who more or less adopt him during his time at the airport.  I loved this book.  It was funny and had that dry sense of humor that I love to read.  The interactions with the children as well as Garry’s inner thoughts had me flipping pages as fast as I could – and when I was done, I started from the beginning and read it again.  Just a great novella.  This is definitely a romance but there is no sex involved – just to let you know. lol  5 out of 5
My next read was another damn fine book called Talker by Amy Lane.  Two boys who are in college – one, Brian, an orphan, feeling on the outer edges of everything and the other, Tate aka Talker, just considered a freak due to his facial tatoos, piercings and mohawk – befriend each other and eventually become roommates.  Brian is a wonderful friend to Talker as well as discovering he’s gay falling in love with him.  It’s a heart-wrenching story at times but so emotionally charged that I found myself pulling for both of them to find exactly what they needed in life.  Such a great book! 5 out of 5
Wicked Nights with a Lover by Sophie Jordan was next.  I’ll be posting my review of this on Wednesday.
Bayou Moon by Ilona Andrews was my next read and it was so damned good.  Just a wonderful romance and adventure mixed.  This is a novel of The Edge and was William’s story.  He’s contacted to find and destroy a spy from the Weird. He meets Cerise Mar who is trying to keep her family in one piece and their reputations in the Edge as fierce as ever when her parents are kidnapped by the very person that William is seeking.  Working together is the only way to defeat them. I read this one for The Book Binge so I’ll let you know when my review posts. 5 out of 5
After that I read a short by JM Snyder.  First up was Fuck the Foreplay which was a cute story about a boy at college that’s very excited that his boyfriend is coming to visit.  Needless to say they were in a rush when they saw each other…hence the name of the story. šŸ™‚ 3 out of 5 (free read from ARe)
Then I read Joy Ride by JM Snyder, another very short book, which was about a 20 something on his street bike who verbally torments a 35 year old Harley rider at a local hangout.  While the taunting sounds like it’s bike related it’s more sexual and the two men finally decide to check out each others rides.  Cute. 3 out of 5 (free read from ARe)
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
*crickets chirping* lol
Happy Reading!


Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

What I Read Last Week

Posted October 26, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 11 Comments

Whatā€™s up? What have you all been up to? Anything fun? Tell all!
Sorry this is so late today folks, I’m just busy, busy, busy!
So this is a short work week for me as tomorrow evening Iā€™m leaving for San Francisco to go to Yaoi-Con and to meet up with Chris, Kris, Tam & Jenre and have a jolly good time. I canā€™t believe Iā€™m actually going to meet all of these fabulous ladies from all over the globe. (Chris is from Minnesota, Kris from Australia, Tam from Canada and Jenre from England) Itā€™s amazing that we could all work our schedules to get together and itā€™s going to be fabulous!
My reading this week was a tad frenetic ā€“ didnā€™t exactly stick to my normal routine of reading different sub-genreā€™s (contemp, then paranormal, then historicalā€¦in no particular order). I needed to get several books read so that the reviews could post on time so that kind of directed my reading. Iā€™m happy to say that I got it all done ā€“ yay! And now Iā€™ll have no worries about the blog while Iā€™m gone. Hopefully my hubby will give up his laptop for the trip cuz I need to be connected!
Not a lot of excitement here other than getting ready for my trip so on to what I read last week:
First up was book 4 in the Farm series by Andrew Grey called Love Meansā€¦Freedom. This was a book about Stone who was kicked out of his fatherā€™s house when he came out to him. He was working his way south to warmer weather but got kicked out of his ride during a blizzard. He happens upon Eli and Geoffā€™s farm and is taken in. He meets Preston, who is in a wheelchair after being hit by a drunk driver and is doing the riding therapy at the farm. The two hit it off but as it usually does, life creates obstacles. This was a good installment in the series. It was almost a little too sweet for me between Preston and Stone. Prestonā€™s father was an ass and I kept thinking that it would be revealed that he was the one that was hurting Prestonā€™s work options but that never came to light. Who knows. šŸ™‚ Cute though. 3.5 out of 5
Saving Lady Ilsa by Crystal Kauffman was a book that I read for The Book Binge. A historical about a second son whoā€™s father wants him to marry but heā€™s in a committed relationship with another man. Heā€™s willing to marry but not have the marriage be in name only. On a whim he takes home a tailorā€™s assistant, Ilsa, who is being abused by the tailor and decides to make her his bride. But he and his partner, Frederick, might want to keep her around and have the marriage be more than just in name. A cute book but it was a little hard for me to think of two gay men suddenly wanting a woman. 3.5 out of 5
Next was Duchess of Sin by Laurel McKee. This is book 2 in the Daughters of Erin series. I didnā€™t read book 1 but didnā€™t feel that I was missing anything. The story revolved around an Irish Duke who is anti-Union in 1799 and a woman who is looking for some meaning in life. The two fall in love and itā€™s quite romantic. The book mostly takes place in Dublin. I read this one for The Book Binge ā€“ it releases on November 30th. 4 out of 5
Next was a book that I received from the author for review ā€“ Forsaken by Shadow by Kait Nolan. The first book about the Mirus, who are paranormal beings. This story was about Cade who woke up and had no memory at all. Ten years later the woman he loves shows up needing his help to save her father. She would have looked for him sooner but she was told he was dead. We get to meet shadow walker, dragon shifters, fey, vampires. It was quite a good book and not that long so if youā€™re looking for a quick paranormal read this might be for you. You can a short review here. 4 out of 5
Craving Beauty by Nalini Singh was my DIK reading challenge book for the month. Iā€™ll post my review on Friday.
My Tracyā€™s TBR challenge read for the week was Allergies by TA Chase. A shifter story about two men who meet at work – Louā€™s a wolf shifter but Ray seems to be allergic to him when heā€™s in his human form. The story covered them getting together and the issues around Lou ā€œcoming outā€ as a shifter and those issues. There was another part of the book that had some shifter hunters coming into the territory but that wasnā€™t dealt with by the end of the book which was a bit surprising, and a little annoying. I can only assume it will be in the next book? IDK. Iā€™ll have to read it and see. 3.25 out of 5
Undeniably Yours by Shannon Stacey was my next read. This was another book that set with the Kowalski family. Kevin has a one night stand but heā€™s really likes the woman, Beth, and wants to see if more can come from it. Well it did since she got pregnant ā€“ but she wants to just stay friends – friends that are having a baby together. Iā€™ll post my review for this on Wednesday. It releases from Carina Press on Nov. 1. 4 out of 5
Picture Postcards by JM Snyder was a very short book but one I really liked. It was about a man, Donny, who was in love with his best friend, Greg, but his friend marries a woman and moves away. They fall out of contact but suddenly Donny is getting random postcards from Greg about his feelings and how he misses Donny, etc. Only 15 pages but it packed a punch. 4 out of 5
After Midnight by Teresa Medeiros was next and this was a book I read about when Luisa Prieto was on DIK recently. Itā€™s a historical about a woman who thinks that the man who is courting her sister might be a vampire. Whether heā€™s a vampire or not she finds herself falling in love with him and he with her. Good book. The end resolution was a bit rushed but overall I really liked the story, thanks Luisa! 4 out of 5
Next up was Icing on the Cake by Alison Kent. I read this one for the True Vows tour and will be posting my review on Nov. 3rd. Let me just say though that the romance was great and I very much liked Kentā€™s writing.
Dance with a Vampire by Fabian Black was next. Only 7 pages long. The story was told in first person but it was told as if retelling a story to the person it happened to. (example: if I was telling the story of how I met my husband to my husband). It was short but sweet. I liked it. 4 out of 5 (free on ARe)
Last on the list was the novella You Get What You Want by Janey Chapel. This was a great book. An ex con, Jay, meets Patrick, a cop, when Patrick gets a drink at the bar that Jay works at. They are incredibly attracted to each other and have a great time in the barā€™s office after closing. But Patrick canā€™t stop thinking about Jay and has 12 hours to kill before he has to head home (to another city), so seeks out Jayā€™s company. The time they spent together was very touching and sexy and I really loved the emotion that was infused into the story. 5 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted since last Monday
Happy Reading!


Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,