Tag: Liza James

What I Read Last Week

Posted October 5, 2009 by Tracy in Features | 16 Comments

Greetings and Happy Monday!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It was nice and sunny here but also a little cooler which was really nice since it’s been damned hot lately. It feels like Fall – finally! 🙂

It was a fun weekend with the girls – we went Halloween costume shopping and got that out of the way. They changed there mind about 1,000 times before they finally decided. Whatever happened to a sheet with the eye holes? lol Just kidding. 🙂 We also went to the library, the rummage sale that our church was having, to Borders, to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (cute, but they liked the book better), and to the park among other things. It was a busy weekend, but good.

This week I had a totally incredible Mommy moment with my youngest daughter. The kids had wanted breakfast for dinner – which they love (I think it’s cuz no vegetables are involved) – and so I made them waffles and eggs and bacon. A while later my youngest came in to the office and sat on my lap to give me a hug. This is what was said:

Me: You smell like syrup.
Her: You smell like a Momma.
Me: laughing Really? What does a Momma smell like?
Her: thinking for a moment Kind, beautiful and nice.

Omg I about broke down in tears! Isn’t that the sweetest thing? She’s just a little lovebug!

So on to what I read. I read a lot this past week. I look at my list sometimes and try to figure out when I had the time to read all of it and just can’t do it! lol This is one of those weeks.

First up was my Re-read Challenge book Kiss of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning. I love this book and I think I’ll read the next book in the series for my next re-read, IDK – definitely thinking about it. You can see my thoughts here.

Next up was The Protector by N.L. Gassert. This is an m/m story about a straight-laced security expert and a guy in his 20’s who needs protecting. It was a good story with a few issues but I liked it. 4 out of 5

Next I read Covet by J.R. Ward. I have to say I had very mixed feelings about the book after I was done. This is a story about Jim and how he’s chosen by both the Angels and the Demons to save the world. If he fails then everything that exists, including earth, heaven and hell (although they don’t actua lly call them that) will disappear. That’s kind of a big load to carry, don’t you think? Jim has to help some people make the right choice between good and evil and there is a romance involved in a small way. The story takes place in Caldwell which I wasn’t thrilled with. I think Caldwell’s got enough shit going on with the Vamps and the Lessers but who am I to say? I kind of got the feeling that the next book would take place somewhere else but I’m not sure. While there are some really great parts to the book there are some other meh moments as well and after putting the book down I had to really think about it. 3.75 out of 5

My Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week was Mine Till Midnight by Lisa Kleypas. It fell just slightly short of the 3 month rule, but hell, it’s my challenge, I’ll cheat if I want, right? lol Anyway…good book! I really loved seeing Cam Rohan again and him falling for Amelia was great. I wasn’t thrilled with the paranormal element even though it wasn’t a massive part of the story. I think when I read a Kleypas or Quinn historical I don’t want anything paranormal going on just a good, straight historical. I’m looking forward to reading the next book though and bought the latest in this series yesterday while at Borders. 4.25 out of 5

I read Midnight Treat by Becca Simone after that. This was a novella about a man meets a woman at a Halloween party and she tells him to meet her in her apartment – go up the fire escape and act like he’s breaking in. The woman wants him to role play and she says she loves to be scared while having sex. Well Josh breaks in to the wrong apartment and when he discovers the mistake (after the fact) he’s mortified and expects to be arrested. When that doesn’t happen he contacts the woman he had sex with to make sure that she’s ok – but he doesn’t reveal who he is. She’s more than ok with Zorro’s break in – she wants more! While Josh and Cassie start a sexual relationship and Josh is being gentle and kind she longs for the raunchier sex Zorro gave her when he broke into her apartment. I think I have a thing for Halloween stories in general. I’m always attracted to them for some reason and really enjoy reading them – even with they’re a little “out there”. This was cute and a fun sexual romp. 4 out of 5

I read a very short free read from Wild Rose Press a while back called Mischief in the Garage. I never quite got around to reading the story it was attached to but I finally did. Mischief in the Dark by Liza James is another Halloween story about 2 people who go to a haunted house and somehow get stuck in the dark warehouse behind locked doors. What can we do while we wait? Have sex, of course! lol It was a very cute short story (24 pages I think) and I like how the author interjected humor with the sex. 4 out of 5

Holly from The Book Binge sent me the latest 2 books in the Warriors of Poseidon series by Alyssa Day. I started reading one for my BB read this week and pretty much didn’t have a clue what was going on. I decided to read the series and see what was happening. Luckily my local library had books 1 and 3 in stock and I had the novellas that make up books 2 and 4 already on my shelf. So I read Atlantis Rising and it wasn’t bad. It’s kind of like a shape-shifter story in that the Warriors of Poseidon are finding their mates – only they don’t mate they soul-meld. I’m thinking that the stories will focus on the Prince (book 1), his brother and the Seven which are the warriors that protect the prince, but I’m guessing. This story followed Conlan who had just been returned to Atlantis after being held prisoner and tortured by THE evil vamp goddess, Anubisa. He meets Riley and is immediately drawn to her and wants to protect her and of course then she’s in danger, etc. I thought that Riley held her own with not being bossed around which was good since there was a shitload of testosterone going around. lol I personally thought that even though the Atlanteans discovered that Conlan wasn’t mentally damaged from his 7 years of torture he adjusted pretty damned well to being free and all of a sudden falling in love but that’s me. 3.5 out of 5

Next was the next book in the Warriors of Poseidon series by Alyssa Day, Wild Hearts in Atlantis which is in the Wild Thing novella (which I already had because of the Meljean Brook story in it. :0)). This was another warrior, Bastien, who goes to Florida to try and check out some rogue shape-shifters and falls in love with Kat, who is part human and part shape-shifter. In these books vamps and shape-shifters were revealed to humans about 10 years earlier and some evil ones have pretty much started to take over. The Atlanteans haven’t been revealed but are trying to help stop the take over. 3.5 out of 5

My last read for the week was Neck and Neck by Elizabeth Bevarly. I read this one for The Book Binge and will let you know when my review posts.

Oh and I posted the list of what I read for September (if you want to see it all in one post) here, or you can click on “booklist” at the top of the page and it will take you there.

Happy Reading!

16 Comments

Tagged: Alyssa Day, Becca Simone, Elizabeth Bevarly, J.R. Ward, Karen Marie Moning, Lisa Kleypas, Liza James, N.L. Gassert, The Book Binge, What I Read Last Week, What I've Been Reading This Week

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

Posted November 17, 2008 by Tracy in Features | 19 Comments

Hey folks! Happy Sunday!

Things around these parts were quiet this week – I like it that way more often than not.

I did get to Rancho Cucamonga yesterday where there was a Southern California Get Together. Not everyone from So Cal was there but there were a few of us and it was great getting to finally meet some of these folks! We shopped at Borders for a while then went and had some lunch then had a book swap (17 more books to add to my collection). Fun! Unfortunately there were a ton of fires going on in So Cal yesterday and lots of freeway closures so Nikki and I had to take a long roundabout way of getting to the get together but we made it. Alice got to the GT but then due to a closure couldn’t get home. She ended up going home with Rosie. Then Wendy and her Man got evacuated because there was a fire practically in their backyard. They met us all and then went home with Rosie as well. I was kind of jealous of the fun slumber party they were having! 🙂 (btw – Wendy and her Man are home now and their apartment is safe! YAY!) Here we all are in all our glory:

Alice, Nikki, Rosie, Wendy, Me & Lori
Ok – On to the books I read this week. I read a lot this week. A lot of the stories were novellas or shorts (some uber short). And, I want to be a nice, kind person and post book covers for you…but I just don’t have it in me tonight, sorry. Hopefully you’ll survive!

Up first was Moon Madness by Mina Carter. A short novella about a werewolf woman running from her pack alpha and having lots of hot sex! lol You can read my review on The Book Binge.Next up was Demon Bound by Meljean Brook. Holy demons Batman! Just an awesome, awesome read. You can read my thoughts a couple of posts back. Meljean is just an incredible story teller and I love reading her books.

Riding Temptation by Jaci Burton was next. The second book in the Wild Riders series. This was a great story about Diaz and Jesse and I loved it. Burton’s such a fun author to read.

Sugar Shack by Paisley Scott was next. Cute little novella about a man and woman who hadn’t seen each other in 10 years. She’d broken up with him because he wanted to stay put in Vermont and she wanted adventure. She’s back in Vermont now and seeing the error of her ways. I thought our hero accepted her a little too quickly for what she’d put him through but overall it was a good story.

Next up were 3 short stories: Mischief in the Garage by Liza James (7 pages) this was a small continuation story of one she’d previously written. Sex on a riding lawn mower – I haven’t tried that one yet. Cute story. (this is actually a free read from Wilder Rose Press)
Then there was Cowboy by Delilah Devlin. Great little erotic short (about 10 pages) of a woman and a cowboy stuck in a storm. This was my fav of the 3.
Then there was One Sinful Night by Jalena Burke (22 pages and I couldn’t find a site for her to link to). I did not like this story at all. Sorry. Woman at a party kissing a guy – suddenly transported to a different house – wakes up and has had sex and been turned into a vampire. Vampire guy nowhere in sight. The woman was just TSTL let’s put it that way.

Another novella: Passions by Jennifer Cole. Woman working at Caribbean resort and meets 2 men from a different universe who say she’s their mate. Review will be up sometime soon on TBB.

Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. Just a great, well written book. I loved the h/h and their banter throughout the book. Dain was a great ass but redeemable. Jessica was a little like a Mack truck in some parts of the book but I loved them when they were together. Loved this one.

A Delicious Taboo by Jennifer Cole. After reading Passions I was a little curious about her other work. I got this book and I basically misunderstood the premise. I thought there would be 2 different menage’s involved. Actually it was a 4 man 1 woman group romp. Huh. 2 male bi couples each want the woman to be their 3rd. They basically try to see who she’ll pick. Things get uh, heated.

Heaven by Jet Mykles. I’ve been meaning to read this forever and finally did it. It was an interesting m/m story about Johnnie Heaven and his obsession with a straight hotel manager. As much as I liked the story I thought there wasn’t as many getting to know each other parts. It’s probably the girl in me since the story was about men, but still. I’ll definitely be reading the other books in the series.

And last but not least…Wild by Lori Foster. As Nikki and I were in the car for a few hours yesterday we of course were talking about books. She recommended this one that I hadn’t read and lent it to me. I really liked the story – and having not read the previous books in the series it was fine as a stand alone.
Happy Reading!