What I Read Last Week

Posted August 20, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 6 Comments

Well let’s see – the girls started school on Thursday and they are both thrilled.  The youngest got a male teacher and so far she really likes him (for the whole 2 days she was in class).  My oldest loves her schedule and her teachers – hopefully it will stay that way. 🙂

I’m home today with a thick head, sore throat, ear ache and temperature.  Boohoo. lol  Oh well, whatcha gonna do, right?

Ok, on to what I read last week.  Sorry, I think these descriptions will be abbreviated because of my head so if something doesn’t make sense just laugh and carry on. 🙂

First up for the week was Highland Bride by Hannah Howell.  This is a book that Holly sent to me and I’m so damned glad she did.  We talked about it over coffee the morning we were leaving RWA and I’d almost forgotten about it when it showed up.  Such a great medieval romance!  You can read more about the book and my review here. 4.5 out of 5

Next was Savage: Daughters of the Jaguar book 1 by Willow Rose.  This was the story of a boy from Denmark who ends up in Florida to study for a year.  His next door neighbors are odd but he ends up falling in love.  Too bad they’re not like other people.  You can read my full review here. 3 out of 5

Next up was A Perfect Stranger by Jaden Skye.  This one I read for Book Binge (the review will post this afternoon) and it was one that didn’t work for me in so many different ways.  The story is about 1 woman in particular but the series is about Tom’s River (I think it’s supposed to be in Wisconsin?) and it’s a huge soap opera.  We get to know the citizens of Tom’s River and frankly I wouldn’t want to know any of them except the character Hunter and he was a drifter that wasn’t from there.  The story was mostly about a woman whose husband disappears without a trace and then the character stories fan out from the people in relation to the woman.  A very character driven story.  If you like soap operas then this might work better from you than it did for me. 1 out of 5

Of Eternal Life by Micah Persell was another one I read for Book Binge.  This story is about a woman who just graduated from med school and is recruited to supposedly help refurbish an old military hospital to help the locals.  Instead they have no patients and are just in the lab constantly.  She comes across a naked guy in the supply closet that she feels strangely comfortable with and he ends up kidnapping her and they head across country running from the bad guys.  This was an interesting story as it was mostly a contemporary read but definitely had a bit of the paranormal involved when it came to finding the Garden of Eden and eating from  a tree.  Pretty entertaining in the end. 3.25 out of 5  You can read my full review here.

Next up was The Way to a Duke’s Heart by Caroline Linden.  This is the last book in The Truth About the Duke series and we actually get to know the heir apparent, Charlie, quite well.  He’s investigating more to try to find the person who was blackmailing his father and the clues lead to a man who is currently searching for investors in his canal project.  Charlie thinks that some woman, including our heroine, Tessa, might be in on the scheme and he tries to ingratiate himself into their lives and follows them to the boondocks.  What he finds is that his heart is on the line – oh and he finds out stuff about the blackmailer too. 🙂  Good story – I’ll review this one next week. 4 out of 5

Hard Tail by JL Merrow is the story of Tim who is basically laid off and then his wife leaves him.  Right after that he finds out his brother was in an accident and Tim ends up taking over his brother’s bike shop til he’s back on his feet.  Tim ends up having feelings for the bike repairman, Matt, but Matt’s in a relationship with someone.  This is a really great story of two men trying to find their way to each other and it was wonderful.  It was fun, emotional and humorous and had a serious issue involved as well.  I’ve only read 3 books by Merrow so far but I definitely need to read more.  Her books are always fabulous and I haven’t read one I didn’t like so far. 4.5 out of 5

Mummy Dearest by Josh Lanyon is the first book in the XOXO Files series.  We meet Drew who is in Wyoming to view a mummy in order to get published.  He runs into trouble with both his live-in boyfriend (as the boyfriend didn’t want him to leave…for his own selfish reasons) and with a film crew who is at the museum to film.  Drew and the film crew end up working together and then Drew and the host of the show, Fraser, have a little alone time together.  When they are watched, chased and run over by a mummy they think that maybe there’s more going on in the museum than they originally thought.  This was a cute story  that had me laughing out loud at times.  I felt horrible for the way that Drew was treated by his boyfriend and wanted nothing more than for Drew to get together with Fraser…and I got my wish.  I’m looking forward to reading more in this series. 4 out of 5

Last for the week was The Ugly Duchess by Eloisa James.  This is the story of childhood friends – in fact they grew up in the same house and they end up marrying.  They marry, however, because of the boy’s criminal father and though James does love Daisy and vice versa she’s not happy when she finds out the facts behind the marriage.  This was a good book but there was a lot of it that didn’t work for me.  I’ll post my review either later this week or next.  3.25 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Now or Never by Michele Bardsley
Of Eternal Life by Micah Persell

Happy Reading!


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6 responses to “What I Read Last Week

  1. I've been feeling sick this week, too. Sore throat, achy, sleepy, kind of sick to my stomach. Hope you feel better soon.

    I'm so glad you liked The Highland Bride. Gilly is such an awesome heroine.

  2. Feel better soon!! Glad the school year got off to a good start for the girls at least.

    I loved Hard Tail! And isn't the cover great? 😀

  3. That is some great reading! Even though I'm frustrated by not being able to write consistently in my present housing situation, I HAVE loved the extra reading time I'm getting in. 🙂

    Tonight I picked up a Tami Hoag, and I haven't read one of hers in years! Looking forward to it.

  4. Holly – Add an ear ache and a thick head and we'd be twins. Yuk. I'm feeling better today – thanks heavens!
    Highland Bride – Yay! Can't thank you enough for that one.

    Chris – Thanks. The girls are still enjoying school so I'm crossing my fingers that it will continue!
    Hard Tail was so good and yes, the cover is simple but good. 🙂

    Bethanne – Extra reading time is always a bonus! 🙂 Hope you like the Hoag.

  5. I hope you're feeling better!

    How are the girls feeling about their teachers now that it's been a week? LOL

    Nice reading week. I have the Lanyon and Merrow in my tbr pile so I'm glad to see you enjoyed them. Like there was any doubt. 😛

  6. Ames – The girls are still liking their teachers but the oldest is having a bit of a shyness issue in Theater Arts. She a huge drama queen but apparently she doesn't like to be one in front of a lot of people.lol Hopefully they'll get her to come out of her shell. 🙂
    Yep, Lanyon and Merrow are definitely two of the authors I read that I KNOW I'll love the book going in. Hope you like them too.

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