What I Read Last Week

Well it’s been crazy at our house this past week. First my little one got a bad cold and fever (I was home with her when I wrote the last edition of What I Read Last Week), then we had a really early birthday party for my oldest (her birthday isn’t until the 30th), then she got sick, then my youngest had another belt test for her red belt on Saturday (which she passed with max points – go baby go!), then she came home, threw up and continued to do so for the next 15 hours. She’s feeling much better now but has been at work with me for most of the past two days so it’s been a bit hectic. Life is fun. lol Needless to say I’m behind on EVERYTHING, including this post! But eventually it all gets taken care of. As long as my family gets healthy soon I’ll be one happy camper.

Here’s my youngest breaking a board at her red belt test. A couple of practice kicks and then she got it in 2.

So how are all of you? What have you been up to? What are you reading lately? I’m afraid with life in a whirlwind I’ve not been blog hopping lately so I hope you’re all well.

What I read last week:

I started off the week with The Cowboy’s Christmas Miracle by RaeAnne Thayne. This was the book that I read for my monthly TBR challenge and it was pretty good. Minor angst between the h/h but other than that a sweet Christmas tale. You can read my review here. 3.5 out of 5

All the Pleasures of the Season by Lecia Cornwall was my next read. A novella that was about a woman who tries to do what her family wants when it comes to marriage and her future but between the evil fiancé and the fact that she’s in love with someone else it just didn’t work. You can read my review here. 4 out of 5

Faery Wedding by Mina Carter was a short read about a woman who is being forced to marry a man she thinks is old and probably evil just to save her family. She goes out the night before and gets her groove on with a great guy who shows up later and surprises her in a big way. It was an ok story but definitely more of an erotic tale rather than love. 2 out of 5

A Knight in Cowboy Boots by Suzie Quint is a book that I read for The Book Binge. This was the story of a girl who basically kidnaps her nephew after the baby’s father kills her sister, the baby’s mother. She goes into hiding but ends up falling for a guy. He’s great but she knows she can’t stay in one place even if she’s in love. It was a pretty good story but there was a bit of hick-speak that made me a bit crazy as I was reading. Luckily they only spoke a bit in hick-speak and didn’t THINK that way. lol 3.75 out of 5

8 Seconds on the Mountain by PD Singer is a short related to Mountain series. This story had the boys, Kurt and Jake, invading the stocks at a rodeo. Kurt riles up the cowboys and makes a bet that he can stay on a bull for 8 seconds. It was cute, short read. 3 out of 5

Priority One by Stephani Hecht is book 4 in the EMS Heat series. I’ve not read the first 3 books but didn’t feel that it was necessary in order to read this one. The story was about newbie EMS Dylan who is mightily attracted to Kaleb the firefighter. The story covers the men getting together and Dylan, who is dealing with emotions left over from when he got kicked out of his parents’ house and his feelings of betrayal from a previous relationship. The romance in this is a bit non-existent as we’re told that the men are basically inseparable but we don’t get to witness any of that. It was a good story just a little short on romance for my liking. 3 out of 5

Beneath the Neon Moon by Theda Black was a free book given away by All Romance eBooks this past week. It was about Zach and Mal who wake up one day and they are chained together in a basement. They discover after a bit that Mal has been bitten by a werewolf and will soon turn one and Zach is to be his first meal. Close proximity, however, bring the two young men together and the last thing either wants is for one to die and the other to be ridden with guilt forever. The book is about Zach and Mal getting to know each other and becoming closer as well as trying to figure out how to change what seems like an inevitable outcome. Really good story, well done. 4 out of 5

I wanted to read When I Fall by Belinda McBride but it had been so long since I had read An Uncommon Whore that I decided to re-read it first. Griffin Hawke is looking for the king of his people and he ends up finding him in an unlikely place. Pasha aka King Helios has been a slave and a whore for years and he knows nothing different. When Griffin finally gets him off planet Helios has to deal the memory/control chip that’s in his head as well as his thoughts of being King and of course his growing feelings for Griffin. It’s a really good book and it was just as good the second time around. 4 out of 5

When I Fall by Belinda McBride starts a year after Helios and Griffin finally make it back to their planet. Helios has fallen into the roll of king easily enough and has made wonderful changes for his people. It seems though that Griffin (this book is from Griffin’s POV while book 1 was from Helios’s) is feeling a bit unneeded and left out. The story deals with many aspects of the men’s world and Griffin’s feelings of impending loss (of Helios). While that was great and I enjoyed the writing tremendously I felt the story lacked the strength of the first book when it came to the men’s relationship. Griffin doubted Helios’s love, Helios kept secrets from Griffin but nothing really got worked out as the conclusion of the book kind of glossed over the issues. Because of a near death experience it seemed that the problems weren’t to be dealt with in depth – Helios admits he did wrong and so did Griffin and then it was all ok. I still gave the book a good grade because as I said, I liked the writing but the lack of true resolution of the problems bothered me a bit, I must admit. 4 out of 5

My Book Binge Reviews that posted last week: