Another Monday and here we are. Let’s all congratulate ourselves for making it through last week – shall we? Yep, I’m pretty glad I made it through. lol
In blogland – if you’re not following Kassa’s Fan Letter Blog Crawl you definitely should! Some awesome letters are being written to authors and you wouldn’t want to miss out. 🙂
Diet and Exercise – Only 1 time exercising this week but I think I did ok on my food. I was in a huge hurry this morning and forgot to weigh myself so no news on that front. It was a good week though.
My youngest went to her very first Taekwondo competition this past weekend. It was in Oceanside (about 2.5 hours away) and I was afraid that she would be out of it because we had to wake up so darned early to be there to register and she was really nervous. She did a great job and for her first competition though and got a SILVER MEDAL! Woohooo! Go baby! I was extremely proud of her to say the least. I have a few pictures and my hubby has a vid on his phone (my stupid camera died right before her part in the comp.) so I’ll have tod download those and post them later this week for you all.
So on to what I read last week:
I started with Lessons in Indiscretion by Karen Erickson. This was the story of a widow who is craving intimacy with a particular man. She wants him to become her lover for the rest of the Season. He up for the challenge but what happens when they become closer and the end of the Season rolls around? This was a short novella and a very good one. I’ll post my review next week.
Next up was Keeping House by Lee Brazil. This is the short novella story of a rich twenty year old who is pretty much a free spirit. Mischa’s brothers want him to work for their film production company and that’s just not his bag. The brother’s dare Mischa into finding a job and supporting himself for one year with no help from his trust fund. Mischa takes them on and ends up taking a job as a housekeeper to an advertising exec. He has no clue what he’s doing but he muddles through and does a great job – he also falls in love with his boss. This was cute but too short. I would have liked more time for the men to get to know each other as I’m just not a huge fan of insta-love. 3 out of 5
After that I read Hunter and the Hawk by Gale Stanley. This is the story of Lycans and Vampires who hate each other but they have a treaty that was made hundreds of years ago. Both genetic lines are dying out and one vampire, a doctor, is trying to see if the addition of lycan blood to the vampire blood makes a difference. The doctor, Abbie, sends her brother, Aidan, to talk to the Lycan alpha but he is intercepted by Hunter. Due to many circumstances Hunter decides to help the vamps without telling his alpha and Aidan and Hunter end up being mates who will die without the others blood. This was pretty good but it didn’t really have a conclusion. It’s a continuing story and I hope we get more info about Hunter and Aidan in future books – as well as info on the infertility issues. 3 out of 5 (novella)
Paradise Found by Hunter Raines was my next read. This was an m/m/m ménage story with some BDSM elements to it. It was good but I did find myself wanting more as I read. You can read my review here if you’d like. 3.75 out of 5 (novella)
I was doing the happy dance when I opened my mail and found Storm’s Heart by Thea Harrison in there from Holly. I, of course, dove right into it and it was great! This is Tiago and Niniane’s story (Niniane – formerly known as Tricks) and when there is an assassination attempt on Niniane’s life – because she’s going to be taking the Dark Fae throne as their queen – Tiago, who is an excellent tracker, heads to Chicago to find and protect her. The romance was great and while the suspense part wasn’t as good, as a whole, I really liked the book. (This one comes out August 2nd) 4.25 out of 5
My Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week was an anthology called Hot Summer Nights by Mary Wine, Karen Erickson, Elle Kennedy and Samantha Lucas. These four different stories told of men and women getting together in all different circumstances for all different reasons. For the most part I liked the stories and the characters. 3 out of 5 overall
Last up was The Rake by Suzanne Enoch (yes Lori, I finally started the Lessons in Love series!). Six years ago Lord Dare had accepted a wager to get a kiss from Georgianna Halley. Dare got that kiss and they both got a night of passion. But when Georgianna found out about the wager – as well as the other wager involving her stocking – Georgianna was pissed! She had thought that the night meant something to Dare but she was wrong. Now Georgianna and her friends have decided that there are some lessons they’d like to teach men and Georgianna wants to teach them to Dare. She has to make him fall in love with her so that she can break his heart when she breaks it off – making him realize how horrible it is and therefore making him a better husband when he marries. But what starts off as Georgianna teaching a lesson soon became Dare and Georgianna falling in love with each other. This was a really good story and I loved seeing this pair come together. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next in the trilogy. 4 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
*crickets chirping*
Happy Reading!!
Yay to your daughter. That is so great. She should be proud. (and Mom of course)
You read lots of boy love this week. 🙂 I agree with the house one. It had so much going for it, until insta-love hit.
That shifter/vamp one sounds interesting. I do tend to like that combination. I might have to check it out.
Wow, you had a great reading week! Suzanne Enoch is a blast from the past for me 😉 I'm actually reading Dragon Bound as we speak and really am focussed on Dragos…I heart his characterization. I need to warm up to Pia a bit. Glad to heart the second book is good too!
Congrats to your youngest! 🙂
I agree with Tam on Keeping House. It'll be interesting to see if the next one in the series is the same way.
Tam – I was proud as was she. She had a great support group that day. 🙂
I did read a bunch of boy love. Too bad none of it knocked my socks off.
Leontine – I hadn't read Enoch until recently and Lori kept telling me to read the Lessons in Love trilogy. I'm so glad I listed to her!
Dragon Bound is great. Pia and Dragos are so great together. I love Harrison's characters!
Chris – Thanks!
I hope the next in the Truth or Dare series are a bit longer. I wonder where she'll go with it. We didn't really get to know the brothers so I'm curious.
I kick off a contest for the next book next week or the week after…
Ha!! Yay for reading the Enoch!
And hooray for youngest – what a great accomplishment!
Congrats to youngest for the Silver Medal!
Yeah! – another positive review for a book that's been languishing on my tbr pile forever. I really need to read more of Ms. Enoch – starting with her Lessons in love series. 🙂
Congrats to your daughter! Fantastic!
Oh, and lots of interesting books. I do like the sounds of Keeping House…even with the insta love 🙂
All the best with the exercise/healthy eating plan. I dn't know why, but I seem to have put on 0.5 kg (1 lb) over the long weekend. GRRR! Am hoping it's just…random 🙂
Chris – I just read the blurb for the next book. Should be interesting. Thanks for the heads up about the giveaway. 🙂
Lori – All your nagging paid off. Kidding. 🙂 It was good!
Thanks – we're all pretty proud of her.
Orannia – Thanks!
If it wasn't for the insta-love I would have liked Keeping House much more. It had such potential!
The diet/exercise thing is a never-ending battle. I so wish I was one of those women who had a fast metabolism – unfortunately I don't and it gets worse as I get older. Bummer. lol
Leslie – Is the Enoch the one that's languishing? It was quite good. I really like her writing style and though there were some issues I had with it it never took away from the overall enjoyment of the story. Hope you like it.
Congrats to your youngest, Tracy!! Wow, taekwondo is really working out for her 🙂
Ugh, I fell off the exercise bandwagon… and with the weather we're getting. Ewww, don't want to get back on it ^_^;
Good job on the reading front 🙂 Hmmm, I'm curious about the Thea harrison…
Yep – that Enoch and a few others of hers.
I have this amazing ability to buy books faster than I can read them. 🙂 I think there's quite a few of us blessed/cursed with this ability. LOL
Sorry about that deleted comment – my mom hadn't logged out of the computer and my comment showed up as coming from her. Doh! lol
Nath – Sorry about falling off the wagon – hope you didn't hurt anything. 😉
Have you read Dragon Bound by Harrison yet? Really good.
Leslie – Ah, I see. And strangely enough – I suffer from that exact same ability! The world is a small place, isn't it? lol