Tag: Alex Beecroft

What I Read Last Week

Posted January 7, 2013 by Tracy in Features | 5 Comments

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you had a safe and fun New Year’s Eve. We stayed home with the kids and ended up making cookies at 10:00pm! It kept me awake that’s for sure. lol I wish you a healthy and happy 2013!

This past week was nice. I had Monday and Tuesday off and only had to work 3 days last week which is always nice. It was a relatively quiet week as the kids were gone on Wed. & Thurs. as they spent it with my parents. I think I’d forgotten how quiet the house could be with just hubby and I (and the cat) in it. 🙂

Anyway, on to what I read this past week which was, except for one glitch, a really good reading week:

I started off the week with Live and Let Love by Gina Robinson. This story is about a spy who works for a division of the CIA. Jack was in an explosion two years prior and pronounced dead. He lived however and got plastic surgery and a new name. He was married though and one of his enemies is “courting” his wif, Willow, to try to draw him out because he apparently doesn’t believe that Jack is dead. Jack heads to Willow’s town to thwart the bad guy but he doesn’t plan on getting close to Willow as he can’t stand the pain of getting close and then having to leave again. This was a good story that was funny and serious in parts. I had a bit of an issue with Jack being able to leave his wife for two years but the author did a good job of making that seem insignificant. You can read my full review here at Book Binge. 3.5 out of 5

Next up was Quid Pro Quo by LA Witt and Aleksandr Voinov. This is story about 2 rent boys who work at a place called Market Gardens. Jared has had a crush on Tristan for months but doesn’t think that Tristan even knows who he is. When a client wants to watch Tristan and Jared together Jared gets to finally put his hands on Tristan the way he’s been dying to. Good story – hot and sexy. You can read my full review here. 4 out of 5 

Blessed Isle by Alex Beecroft is the historical story of a captain of a ship and one of his lieutenants. It’s kind of a Murphy’s Law book of sorts as at one point there was nothing that wasn’t going wrong. It was a wonderful yet completely unexpected story that I loved reading. You can read my full review of it here. 4.5 out of 5  

My next read was Secrets of a Wedding Night by Valerie Bowman. The story is about a Countess who writes pamphlet about the secrets of a wedding night in order to try and stop the man she loves from getting married. It stops it but he’s pissed and swears that he will get revenge…by seducing her. There were huge trust issues from when they originally fell in love 5 years prior, there are honesty issues and frankly I found the heroine to be completely manipulative. In the end it was just an ok read. 2 out of 5 

Precinct 13 by Tate Hallaway was an unexpected surprise. The story is about a woman who has been thought crazy – even put in lockdown because of her hallucinations. Turns out everything she though she saw was real and that she’s a witch. She doesn’t figure this out until she becomes a county coroner and on her first autopsy the body gets up and walks out. It’s crazy as she and the members of Precinct 13 try to find out where the corpse is and what the heck is going on. The story is a bit confusing at the beginning as it felt like there was a previous book – but there’s not. It got better as it went and I found myself laughing out loud more than once. Overall a good read. 3.75 out of 5 

Inseparable by Chris Scully is the story of Adam who is hit by a car and logically ends up in the hospital. When he awakens he finds he can’t remember a thing – including his best friend, Joe. Though Joe acts more like a boyfriend Joe tells Adam that while Joe is gay, Adam is not. As Adam learns more about himself though he finds that things aren’t exactly as Joe said they were. This was a fun story. I loved the slow awakening of Adam in several different ways. It was a great Christmas read. 4 out of 5 

Fourth and Long by Chris Scully is about Eric who is heads to his high school reunion with trepidation. Eric thinks about all the various things that happened during his senior year and specifically Prom Night but we don’t get the whole story at once – it slowly unfolds. That happens when Eric is sent back in time to his senior year and he realizes he has the opportunity to change things. A very good read that I really enjoyed! 4 out of 5 

Last was Seduction of a Highland Lass by Maya Banks. This is the story of Alaric McCabe who is hurt and ends up at the cottage of Keeley McDonald. She heals him to a point but then they are found by Alaric’s brothers and Keeley is taken back to McCabe lands to continue healing him. She is also to oversee the birth of the Laird’s baby. Keeley was thrown from her clan over something that she didn’t do and so being in the McCabe clan gives her a sense of family that she hasn’t had for years. She and Alaric also fall deeply in love but he is promised in marriage to the daughter of the McDonald clan and cannot break that promise. It’s a heart wrenching story that was oh so good. I just love Banks’ historicals so much! I can’t wait to read the next in the series to find out what happens with brother number 3, Caelen. 4 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week: 
Live and Let Love by Gina Robinson 
Chance of a Lifetime by Jodi Thomas

Happy Reading!

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Review: Blessed Isle by Alex Beecroft

Posted January 4, 2013 by Tracy in Reviews | 2 Comments

For Captain Harry Thompson, the command of the prison transport ship HMS Banshee is his opportunity to prove his worth, working-class origins be damned. But his criminal attraction to his upper-crust First Lieutenant, Garnet Littleton, threatens to overturn all he’s ever worked for.

Lust quickly proves to be the least of his problems, however. The deadly combination of typhus, rioting convicts, and a monstrous storm destroys his prospects . . . and shipwrecks him and Garnet on their own private island. After months of solitary paradise, the journey back to civilization—surviving mutineers, exposure, and desertion—is the ultimate test of their feelings for each other.

These two very different men each record their story for an unfathomable future in which the tale of their love—a love punishable by death in their own time—can finally be told. Today, dear reader, it is at last safe for you to hear it all.

When Captain Harry Thompson first sees shipmate Lieutenant Garnet Littleton he is dumbstruck. The story tells it like Cupid shooting his arrow or some such but what came to my mind was Bon Jovi singing “shot through the heart, and you’re to blame..!” lol The two are instantly attracted to each other but while Garnet is willing to take the chance with Harry, Harry isn’t. Harry basically avoids Garnet until he just can’t any longer. The reason he can’t? The other ships that are sailing in his the convoy are all practically disabled because the crew and prisoners all have Typhus – or are already dead from the disease.

Desperate to keep his ship afloat Harry agrees to release the remaining prisoners so that they can help sail the ship – but mutiny wasn’t far off with prisoners on the loose. In the end only Harry and Garnet are left alive, sailing in a boat for days trying to find land after the HMS Banshee goes under. They arrive at an island that’s only about a mile long and there they fall in love. But while one of the men feels it’s a perfect place for them the other is going a bit insane from the lack of other human contact. If they do get rescued – what will happen to the two of them and their love?

What can I say about this wonderful book? I feel like I can’t quite give it the words it needs to describe how the book made me feel. The story is told in alternating first person POV between Harry and Garnet but it’s told as it’s being written in a journal. The journal is something that Harry starts so that one day someone can read about the love between Garnet and Harry but Garnet can’t quite keep his mitts off of it so he puts in his two cents as well. Because of this I knew from the start that the two men were together but it was the getting to the HEA that had me hooked.

At first I was a bit pissed off because Harry wasn’t giving in to his desires – but I understood his hesitance. He wanted to prove to himself and to everyone else that he was a wonderful captain – and he was – but he was also very worried about what other people think and therefore wouldn’t give himself leave to act on his attraction to Garnet. There was also the little thing about being killed/hanged for sodomy.  Just a little thing Harry was worried about.

When Typhus is discovered and the description of the aftermath is described…it’s not pleasant. I have to say that you should probably not be eating when reading this novella because it’s pretty gruesome. Saying that, I appreciated the bluntness with which the description was delivered. Since this was a journal entry I felt that I was being told the information as if I was sitting across from Garnet while he was telling me this in person. It made me love the writing style of the author more because she was so descriptive in so few words.

And then there were two. Harry doesn’t let himself be true to his feelings until there’s no one left alive to witness his affection toward Garnet. Again, not making me happy, but understandable. Garnet is such a carefree soul and a lover of life and his attitude, while at times surly, was a bright spot in the story. He had a way with words and emotions that was the antidote to Harry’s more serious verse and I adored the contrast.

In the end the book was all that and a bag of chips. The characters were great, the story and writing were wonderful…and I’m not even a huge fan of historical m/m romance! lol This is definitely, imho, a book not to be missed.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Alex Beecroft

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What I Read Last Week

Posted June 18, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 5 Comments

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend. It was hotter than hell here but I managed to stay in a lot in the various places I went so that was good. Father’s Day was nice – my hubby was a homebody but hey, that’s what he wanted. 🙂
DFAT is still going strong! I managed to read 6 DFRAT books last week – woohoo! Go me. lol 
Here is the schedule for all of the blogs involved in the Digital First Read-A-Thon for this week:
Monday, June 18th
Alina Adams Book Binge
Nancy Cassidy  RR@H Novel Thoughts
Charlie Cochrane The Book Reading Gals
HelenKay Dimon Book Binge
Liz Strange RR@H Novel Thoughts
Tuesday, June 19th
Ruthie Knox Book Binge
Larry Benjamin RR@H Novel Thoughts
Lillian Grant The Book Reading Gals
Mary Hughes Tracy’s Place

Wednesday, June 20th
Annie Nicholas Book Binge
Eugenia O’Neill Book Binge
Cathy Perkins RR@H Novel Thoughts
Phoebe Conn The Book Reading Gals
Barbara Meyers Tracy’s Place
Thursday, June 21st
Lynne Connelly RR@H Novel Thoughts
Julie Rowe Book Binge
Born of Empire by Simon Brown Giveaway Book Binge
Georgie Lee RR@H Novel Thoughts
Desiree Holt The Book Reading Gals
Kay Keppler Tracy’s Place
Friday, June 22nd
Veronica Scott RR@H Novel Thoughts
Renee Wildes The Book Reading Gals
Mari Carr Tracy’s Place
Hope Tarr Book Binge
Saturday, June 23rd
Jessica Scott Book Binge
Anne Hope The Book Reading Gals
Cathleen Ross Tracy’s Place
Sunday, June 24th
A. Catherine Noon and Rachel Wilder Book Binge
Serenity Woods Tracy’s Place
Lots of great authors to read about and lots of giveaways as well!
On to what I read this week:
I started off the week with Tempting by Hope Tarr. This story is Hope’s take on Pygmalion. In this case an aspiring member of Parliament, Simon, finds a woman in the attic of a brothel and ends up taking her home with him and trying to make her speech and dress suitable enough to find her a position as a governess or lady’s maid. Life, of course, doesn’t turn out the way he planned and he ends up falling in love with Christine and all the angst that brings to the story. It was a very good book and one I’d recommend it. 4.25 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)
Next was His Heart’s Obsession by Alex Beecroft. This was the story of Robert who is in love with his shipmate and friend, Hal. Hal, however, is in love with his straight captain, William. Robert professes his love but with Hal so gone over William it’s a battle to prove his feelings for Hal. This was a good m/m story that I very much enjoyed. You can read my full review here. 4 out of 5
Next was About Last Night by Ruthie Knox. This story is about an American woman who is living in England. She is all sewn up and proper as she feels she should be since her life prior to that had been a complete mess – as far as she’s concerned. She meets banker Nev who is much more than what he seems on the surface and learns a whole lot about herself while falling in love with him. It was a really good book – fun and funny and it just hit all the right buttons with me. Definitely worth the read. 4.5 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)
Next up was Black Wolf by Jade Buchanan. This book had Adam, a tabby cat shifter, who left home and is working at a bar when he meets his mate, Marcus – a wolf. He is in trouble with his landlord though who wants to have more from Adam than his money and isn’t afraid to knock him around to make him see his point of view. The story has Marcus and Adam dealing with the situation as well as falling in love. It was very short but pretty darned cute. 3.25 out of 5
After that was the next book in the Wolf Creek series by Jade Buchanan, Duck Fart.. Bailey is a friend of Adam’s (from book 1). He actually followed Adam because he wanted to tell Adam how he felt about him. He’s shocked when he finds Adam mated. He’s confused but horny and ends up going home with a mallard shifter named Drake. Drake is nuts and funny but uses humor as a shield. He is a kinky little thing though and ends up putting a cock cage on Bailey and then can’t find the key. Enter Keith who is a cousin to Marcus (book 1) so he knows about shifter. Keith gets Bailey out of his predicament and the three end up spending the weekend together. There’s a whole lot more going on in this story but I don’t want to tell all. It was very good and I really liked it. 4 out of 5
Thief of Shadows by Elizabeth Hoyt was next and it was Oh So Good. I’ll post my review for the book later this week.
Next was Somebody Like You by Candis Terry. This is book 3 in The Sugar Shack trilogy and a good one as well. I’ll post this review this week as well so keep your eyes open.
Last on the list was Hearts of Darkness by Kira Brady. I know it doesn’t come out until August but I just couldn’t help myself. This is Kira’s first novel and well worth the read. The story is about dragon shifters who are trying to open a gate to hell so they can take over the world. The Kivati who are shifters who have pledged to protect humans from the dragon shifters (a completely separate shifter race). Kayla goes to Seattle after the death of her sister and finds a world she had no idea existed. She meets wolf shifter Hart and she thinks he’s helping her complete a mission for the Kivati when he’s actually working for his boss the dragon shifter. It’s a story about love and loss and betrayal. It’s written so well and there are so many different intricacies in the story that it just caught me and didn’t let go. I’ll post a review of this one when it gets nearer release time but keep it on your radar. 4.25 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:

Happy Reading!

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DFRAT Review: His Heart’s Obsession by Alex Beecroft

Posted June 15, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 3 Comments

Kingston, Jamaica, 1752

Robert Hughes, a lieutenant–and rogue–in the British Royal Navy, is in love with his gorgeous fellow officer, Hal Morgan. Hal only has eyes for their captain–a man who’ll never share their inclinations. Night after night aboard the Swiftsure, it kills Robert to listen to Hal’s erotic dreams of a man he can’t possibly have. Determined to protect his friend, Robert stages a seduction.

But Hal demands proof of love before he will submit to the rakish Robert.

Mission accepted. After all, how hard could it be to show what’s inside his heart? Yet Robert’s move to claim Hal’s love leads to the threat of exposure, and mortal danger from the French. Will a heart obsessed ever accept defeat?
Robert has been in love with Hal since almost the first moment he laid eyes on him 5 years ago. But Robert knows that there’s no hope for him because Hal’s heart belongs to another man, Captain William Hamilton. Robert room shares a canvas wall with Hal’s room and Robert hears Hal’s dreams and tries very hard to stop him from saying anything incriminating in his sleep.
Robert has waited long enough. He needs to tell Hal his feelings and make his move. He makes a plan to get Hal to his room and seduce him but it basically backfires and Hal thinks that Robert is joking. He tells him that if he means what he says he’ll prove it. Not only does Robert prove it in his own roundabout way but he also make Hal see that what he feels for William will never be reciprocated. This is a hard and harsh lesson to learn but one that Hal needed to hear. Hal is completely distraught and not sure how he feels about anything anymore. Can he deny his heart and feelings for William and let Robert in?
If you know my reading habits you know that I’m not a huge reader of m/m historical romance. When I saw this one, however, the blurb just caught my eye. Facing unrequited love, dealing with the fallout and moving on is one of my favorite romance tropes. I’m not sure what it is about it that I love so much because my heart is usually aching horribly for the poor person who loves so much and not loved in return by that person. I think because in the end there is someone out there that loves them even more than maybe the other would is what makes me want to keep turning pages.
Anyway, that is totally the case here with Hal and Robert – both are in love with men that do not return their love. For Hal it’s even more heartwrenching, imho, because William isn’t gay nor would he ever consider it – no GFY possibility in sight. lol In Robert’s case at least he knows that there’s a chance if he can get the tide to turn his way. I loved that even though he knew he had a tough row to hoe he was persistent and didn’t give up even when that would have been the easier choice. The tenderness and patience showed throughout the book really made me like him even more.
While we spent most of the novella watching Hal and Robert come together we unfortunately don’t get to see them together after the fact but just a bit. That small bit was enough to make me want more from the couple as they did seem like they would be happy together.
The descriptions in this story were so very vivid whether it was a description of the ship, the land they were on and its unforgiving heat, the feelings that both Robert and Hal had, that I just felt like I was all of those places at the time. Though the story was short it was filled with emotion, friendship and love and had me turning page after page. Definitely worth taking the time to read.
Rating: 4 out of 5

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