Casee: It’s been slow going for me this past week. It’s spring break at my house. We went on a road trip and there wasn’t a whole lot of reading time. It took me over a week to read Revenge by Lexi Blake. I finally finished it yesterday and it was fantastic. It’s not the end of the Lawless series, which I’m happy about. I will never get enough of that family.
I’m getting ready to start The Darkest Promise by Gena Showalter. I love the Lords of the Underworld. I’ve been looking forward to this book for awhile now.
Holly: I DNF’d two books this week. Elemental Mating by Milly Taiden is something I found while browsing NetGalley. It sounded really good, but it turned a little woo-woo for me. Plus, the hero and heroine both made so many ridiculous choices based on the circumstances they were in. I can generally set aside all disbelief when reading a PNR, but I just couldn’t this time. When An Alpha Purrs by Eve Langlais is one I downloaded free ages ago. I’m glad I didn’t pay for it. It was way too fluffy for me. The heroine is a hairdresser who gets angry at the hero and hacks off a hunk of his hair. In the first chapter. Ten minutes after meeting him. He was being arrogant and a jerk, true, but the sheer unprofessional-ism of the act just flat killed the book for me.
Aside from those two, I re-read Own the Wind by Kristen Ashley and Fire Touched and Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs.
I’m still hunting for another UF series similar to Briggs (or the Kate Daniels series). Feel free to shoot me some recs!
Rowena: My reading slowed down some this week because I was trying to force myself to read past 20% of a book that was just pissing me off and I’m shocked as shit to say that I DNF’d my first Lauren Layne book. I started Frisk Me with the intention of reading all three books in that series but the heroine pissed me off, the hero made me roll my eyes and about 30% into the book, I tossed in the towel. I am now reading Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty, a book that I’ve been meaning to read forEVER and so far, I’m liking it. I should be finished with this book tonight and then I’ll probably move on to Fourth Comings.
What are you reading this week? Any new favorites or books that drove you crazy? Share!
Not as much time to read this week, but I did manage to read book 1 of Cherry Adair’s Cutter Cay series, and I have no idea why I didn’t read this earlier! Book 1 had some issues, but it’s about treasure hunters and they are my special, special catnip. There was a super long gap between books 3 and 4, but book 4 finally came out this year so I’m working my way toward it. I also read another Harlequin Intrigue from Paula Graves, and unfortunately that series has totally fallen off the wagon for me. The first bunch were good, but now I feel like it’s too much repeating and the couples never really connect. Boo.
Holly, given the hair cut, instead of “sheEr” it might be “sheAr”unprofessional-ism!
Recent reads here ~
— The Edge of the Blade (The Uncharted Realms) by Jeffe Kennedy. This was an enjoyable fantasy novel; it’s not the first in the series, and I’d recommend starting at the beginning.
— Favorite author Sarina Bowen recently released a book Goodbye Paradise which was a re-issue of In Front of God & Everyone which she had previously published under the name Nealy Wagner. I was looking forward to reading the book only to realize I already owned it having picked it up as a free book a year or so ago; it was my lucky day. I enjoyed it.
— re-read a couple of science fiction romances. The books are fun reads though they could both use a good editor. Grim (Tornians Book 1) by M.K. Eidem and Ice Planet Barbarians: A SciFi Alien Romance by Ruby Dixon
— ‘Tis the season? I guess it is for me. A Regency Christmas II by Mary Balogh, Carla Kelly, Mary Jo Putney, Anita Mills, Sheila Walsh, and Mary Jo Putney
— A Storm of Stories by K.B. Jensen: This was a curious novel in that consisted of stories being told by a man and a woman who were trapped in a car during a storm. I was sufficiently engrossed in that I read the whole book, but it’s not a book I’m inclined to reread. It was NOT a romance.
— The Douglas Fir by Anyta Sunday: this was a pleasant male/male romance novella.
— Rachel Grant’s newest romantic suspense. Tinderbox (Flashpoint Book 1), which I enjoyed.
— Close Enough to Touch: A Nove by Colleen Oakley which I enjoyed. I’ll be on the lookout for other books by this author.
— re-read with pleasure Linda Howard’s Now You See Her.
— re-read three linked stories from Thea Harrison’s Elder Races series and enjoyed them all once again: Dragos Goes to Washington, Pia Does Hollywood, and Liam Takes Manhattan.
— the male/male romance Shift (Wolves of Hunter’s Rock Book 1) by Shelley Grayson. I found it a pleasant read but I don’t think it’s a book I’ll be re-reading anytime soon.
— Today I finished Wolves of Black Pine (The Wolfkin Saga Book 1) by SJ Himes which I enjoyed until I got to the end and learned of a sequel coming out in early 2016. Said sequel does not seem to have yet been published. Drats!
I haven’t had much reading time this week. I managed to finish the latest Lady Darby mystery and the latest Mercy Thompson book. I enjoyed both. Now I’m starting The Cad and the Co-ed by Penny Reid and L.H. Cosway.
Rowena, I finished Frisk Me, but it was probably my least favorite Layne book (possibly tied with Good Girl). I really couldn’t stand the heroine and I felt she got even worse at the end. I’ll eventually check out the other two books in the series, but I’m waiting for the price to drop since I didn’t love Frisk Me.
Holly, for UF I would recommend the Arcadia Bell series by Jenn Bennett. It’s a 4 book UF series with a pretty unique premise and has a wonderful leading couple who are act maturely and don’t play games with each other. I’d also recommend Eileen Wilks’ World of the Lupi series. Again it’s got a great leading couple with Rule, a werewolf “prince” and Lily, an FBI agent. It’s 12 or so books long at this point, although some of the books have featured other couples. Finally, there are only 2 books in the series so far, but I highly recommend The Wraith Kings series by Grace Draven, which is a great fantasy romance.
Rowena, I also DNF’ed Frisk Me. I really dislike romances where one of the leads is a reporter. It seems like the conflict always revolves around them lying about their motives and wrestling over whether they should betray the other person for their own personal gain. Yuck. I should have known better than to try the book. The other 2 in the series sound okay so I might still try them.
I read a lot of books last week, but the only one that stands out was His Road Home by Anna Richland which featured hero who’d lost his legs and had speech aphasia from an explosion in Afghanistan and a heroine from his home town whom he’d lied about and said was his fiancee even though they didn’t actually know each other (this makes total sense in the context of the story). It was adorable and sweet and my only complaint was that it was a novella and I wanted a full-length book.
JenM, I too found His Road Home to be an excellent read. I’m hopeful that the author might write some more non-paranormal contemporaries. (I’ve read one of her other books, a paranormal, whose hero and heroine are in one scene in His Road Home.)