Tag: Annmarie McKenna

What I’ve Been Reading This Week

Posted November 30, 2009 by Tracy in Features | 12 Comments

Hello there!

I hope you all had a wonderful week – whether you were celebrating Thanksgiving or not. I personally had a wonderfully quiet Thanksgiving spent at my parents house and it’s always nice to have 4 days off of work to spend time with the family. 🙂

Yesterday two of my friends and I made an improptu drive to Costa Mesa and they both drooled over the UBS New and Recycled Romances – yes the same one that the So Cal Blogger went to. It was great fun and we spent a good hour and a half just browsing, talking and having fun. I think my friend Jen bought something like 18 or 20 books. 🙂 I love that! lol

I haven’t blog hopped in about 3 weeks and I think I’m going through withdrawals! Hopefully I’ll be able to this week cuz I feel like I have no idea what’s going on with any of you! I hope you’re all well

Anyway, on to what I read this week

My first read of the week was Genesis by Jet Mykles. This is book 5 in the Heaven Sent series and it’s was pretty good. It was a New Year’s story involvoing all of the couples. I liked seeing all of the couples together and having normal every day issues like the rest of us. 3.5 out of 5

Next up was the novella Look What Santa Brought by Annmarie McKenna. This was an impulse holiday buy and it was cute. A story about a hero who’s blind and has the hots for his sister’s best friend and the best friend who is trying to get away from her incredibly possessive/psycho boyfriend who wants to take over her life. While it was cute it had what seemed like a very rushed sex scene (the only one in the story) and then the ending was very abrupt. I would have liked to see just a few more pages here and there. 3.5 out of 5

After that I read Lament: The Faerie Queen’s Deception by Maggie Stiefvater. I had very mixed feelings about the book. On one hand I liked the relationship that Deirdre had with her best friend James – even though he played a pretty small part. But I can’t say that I liked Deirdre all that much. Her easy acceptance of the whole Faerie thing was a little off-putting for me. Would a teenager really believe that quickly and not doubt? I found it odd. Then there were some unanswered questions in the story. Luke (who I actually felt sorry for) who would say “I am Luke, it’s been one thousand blah, blah, blah years – do not forget” Why did he say this? Who was he saying it to? Was he saying it just to himself? What was he not to forget? That was never explained and it drove me nuts! And (I don’t want to spoil the story so I’ll say this as vaguely as possible) the queen at the end – why her? Was there something special about her? She said she’d been waiting – but why? I didn’t get it. And the biggest question: What was the queen’s deception? Am I being obtuse? IDK. I have to say that although this book was written well it just didn’t get me emotionally involved. I ended the book going “huh, ok.” 3 out of 5

Alas my Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week is a fail. I bought Never Dare a Duke by Gayle Callen after reading Never Trust a Scoundrel and enjoying it. Unfortunately it sat there unread until now. I was sent Never Marry a Stranger – the 3rd book in the trilogy – for review and thought I’d read this one first. Well I just couldn’t do it. After about 20 pages I was ready to throw put the book down. The heroine is a commoner who’s father’s newpaper is failing. She decides that what the paper needs is more gossip and she wants to get the skinny on a Duke that supposedly has paid big money to keep a secret. (I won’t go into great detail but her father sounded like a pretty honorable man who doesn’t print gossip so why she thought he’d print this is beyond me.) She meets the Duke and her best friend (an Earl’s daughter) lies about who she is, so that about did me in. She’s already lied about her identity and then she’s going to scrounge into his past (and lie to get what she wants) and wreak havoc on his reputation no matter who he is – cuz people need to know and he’s a Duke, dammit. Oy. I did read 60 more pages and decided I just couldn’t do it. The heroine’s personality was so annoying to me I just couldn’t go further. DNF

Never Marry A Stranger by Gayle Callen is the next book in the Sons of Scandal series and one I read for The Book Binge. My review should post this week so I’ll alert you went that happens – I think tomorrow should be the day.

Another read for my Year of the Category Challenge was Blackmailed Into Marriage by Lucy Monroe. You can read my review here.

And my last read fo the week…yes, cutting it very close this time…was my Re-Read Challenge book – in preparation of The Dark Tide release on December 22nd I read Death of A Pirate King by Josh Lanyon. I’ll post my review tomorrow!

Have a great week and Happy Reading!