Casee: I’ve been reading Kristen Ashley. Only Kristen Ashley. Reading Kristen Ashley for a month straight is traumatizing to say the least. It’s also awesome!
I’m listening to Iron and Magic by Ilona Andrews. This is the start of Hugh d’Ambray’s series. The narrator is different (not in a good way) so it’s taken me a bit to get into it. I might switch to reading it.
Holly: Things have been crazy the past couple weeks and we missed WAYR. I’m including my reads for the past 3 weeks here. I read an ARC of Archangel’s Sun by Nalini Singh, which I really enjoyed. The romance wasn’t my favorite, but I loved Sharine’s personal growth through the novel. I alternated reading and listening to The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James. The end was a little anticlimactic, but I loved the story overall. The narration was wonderful, too.
I read A Winning Season by Rochelle Alers, a new-to-me author. I enjoyed the story. It was sweet and romantic. I also really enjoyed Accidentally Compromising the Duke by Stacy Reid. I’m not sure how excited I am to finish the series, however. I didn’t love the secondary characters that are featured in later books.
I finally read A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla Vane, which I’ve been trying to read since November. Once I pushed through the first chapter I really fell into the story. Pathfinder’s Way by T.A. White, another fantasy romance, was very good. I really liked the female lead. I also read Mist’s Edge, the second book in the series, which I didn’t care for as much. I’m anxious to read the third book.
I reread Alpha and Omega by Patricia Briggs, Repeat by Kylie Scott, The Gamble and Sweet Dreams by Kristen Ashley. I listened to One Fell Sweep and Wildfire by Ilona Andrews.
What are you reading this week? Any new favorites or books that drove you crazy? Share!
One of my favorite (and most underrated, imho) romance writers, Julie Kriss, recently released two books. The first was HEARTBREAKER, which is part of the Cocky Hero Club, where different authors write books built around existing worlds created in books by Vi Keeland & Penelope Ward. HEARTBREAKER is set in the same world as Keeland & Ward’s STUCK-UP SUIT. It’s a second-chance romance between a singer/dancer and the EMT who broke her heart ten years ago in high school. It was fine, but I felt Kriss had to twist some of the plot to make sure the h&h from STUCK-UP SUIT got some time in the book.
Kriss’s second book was the very good DIRTY TALK, which is the third book in her Filthy Rich series. It’s about two people with insane sexual chemistry who attempt a “no-strings” affair. But when has that ever worked in Romancelandia? I really enjoyed the ongoing subtext in this one: sex and intimacy are two very different things—and women, much more than men, need to feel intimacy in order to be sexually fulfilled with their partner.
Three weeks ago ~
— Monkeewrench by P. J. Tracy; it’s a mystery thriller which I enjoyed. It had a complex storyline and kept me guessing. It’s the start of a ten book series which I’d like to continue. So, my libraries have books four and on but not books two and three…hmmph!
Two weeks ago ~
— Burn by Patrick Ness. This was a book that went in directions that I did not anticipate. It’s a new young adult book; if a sequel were to magically appear, I’d read it.
— enjoyed Beyond the Sea by Keira Andrews which is a contemporary male/male romance that takes place on a small island after a plane crash.
— a lovely historical romance story, ‘The Mender’ by Carla Kelly. You can find it in the anthology All Regency Collection (A Timeless Romance Anthology Book 10) by various authors.
— The Fantastic Fluke by Sam Burns; this is a contemporary male/male paranormal romance which I enjoyed.
This past week ~
— a reread of For Real (Spires Book 3) by Alexis Hall which I enjoyed once again.
— Our Child of the Stars by Stephen Cox; I found this to be a rather engaging read.
— The Enforcer Enigma: The San Andreas Shifters by G. L. Carriger; this was a pleasant read, but I don’t think this is a book I’ll be rereading anytime soon.
I finished the historical anthology: Some Wallflowers Do and since The Disappearance of Lady Edith was the final book decided to read the rest of the Undaunted Debutantes series . As with all anthologies there were some stories that were better than others. I’ve also been reading Melissa McClone’s Keeper series. I’m finally finished with Mary Janice Davidson’s Bears Behaving Badly the first in her BeWare My Heart series. It was the first book of her’s I’ve read and I will read the next one in this series for sure!