Happy Monday!

At least I hope it’s a happy Monday for most of you. 🙂  My kids are back at school today after having a week off.  I love it when they’re off…I get to sleep in an extra half hour in the mornings and I love letting them stay up a little later and not having to impose the strict bed times.  I think they like it too. 🙂  The kids did spend a few days at my parents house last week which was nice for them and for hubby and me as well.  We got to spend more one on one time together and I got a ton of reading done as well.  

So what I read…

First up was Love and Loyalty by Tere Michaels.  Michaels’ second book and a good one, I must say.  This is the story of Jim, a workaholic cop with great, well meaning friends and Griffin, a screenwriter from Hollywood who is writing a story about a case that Jim was deeply involved in.  The two men meet for dinner “to discuss the script” and one thing leads to another.  They go back to Jim’s place and then are just…together.  I loved seeing how comfortable the two men were together – enough that Jim just let Griffin stay at his place and it just kept going.  It was just a sweet story and I loved it..  I can’t wait to read Duty and Devotion – the newest book  4.5 out of 5

Next up was Winter Kiss by Deborah Cooke.  This is book 4 in the Dragonfire series about dragon shapeshifters and yet another book in my FTSP.  This was Delaney’s story. He was hurt and abducted by the Slayers (the bad guys) and given an Elixir that tainted him.  But he broke free of the hold…or so he thought.  He has his firestorm – the time when he and his mate…well, mate and produce little baby dragon shapeshifters.  The firestorm doesn’t go as planned but Delaney’s determined that he’s the one that must destroy the elixir even if it kills him in the process.  It was a good story.  I had to roll my eyes sometimes at the heroine and some of the things that she did but it was good.  I read this one for The Book Binge so I’ll let you know when my review posts.

Next was a Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week.  Bedded by Her Lord by Denise Lynn was, I think, a book I picked up at the very first So Cal Blogger get together I went to.  Yeah, and it’s been sitting ever since.  Anyway, this was the story of a man who had been abducted and forced to kill other men for his own survival.  He escapes and makes it home after 7 years but when he comes home nothing’s as he imagined it would be and they don’t even recognize him.  On top of that he walks in to his wife giving birth.  Oops.  The story is him trying to beat the demon inside him that has grown from killing so many and the struggle between his wife and himself.  Not a fantastic medieval, but not bad.  3 out of 5

Next up was Hide Out by Katie Allen.  This is Trevor’s story and it was a good one.  Trevor is trying to hide from his father who wants to kill him and he’s in a “fake” couple relationship with the cop who’s his protector, Pete.  Only, hey look, they’re both gay! 🙂  It was a great story and another I wrote for The Book Binge so again, I’ll let you know when my review posts.

Another Chance to Dream by Lynn Kurland was my next read.  This was another medieval read and had some angst. *snort* Ok, that’s like saying that candy has some sugar.  I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that had that many things happen to the hero and heroine.  Seriously nothing could go right for the poor couple.  They just wanted to be together dammit and they couldn’t! lol   Gwen and Rhys have a great infatuation with each other from the time she’s 10 and he’s 14 which grows to love over the years.  He heads off to earn mucho money so that he can try to buy land (since he’s only a knight and not a lord) and also possibly bribe someone for Gwen’s hand in marriage since she’s been promised to another since birth.  But everyone and everything is determined to keep them apart.  Oy.  I really like Kurland’s writing but this one was off the charts when it came to Murphy’s Law.  3.5 out of 5

Ok – any Kurland fans out there?  I have a question.  What order should I read the books in?  I swear I stared at the reading order page for at least 10 minutes the other day trying to figure it out and still didn’t have a clue. The page itself is very organized but that didn’t help me. I like her historicals as well as her time travel but some interconnect.  I thought to just read in publication order (barring her fantasy reads) but that confused me to since her first book is #10 in the De Piaget series.  Can anyone help this poor confused soul out?

Next up was Kiss and Kin by Kinsey Holley.  I had read a short free story by Holley at Christmas from The Samhellion and really enjoyed it.  This is the story of Lark and Taran.  A non related pair who were raised as brother and sister due to the death of Lark’s parents.  Because of this they have tried to stay away from each other but Lark is Taran’s mate.  When Lark is in danger not only the cop in Taran but the mate in Taran come forward.  I liked this story.  Sometimes with foster siblings there’s a squick factor involved but I didn’t get this from the story at all which I appreciated.  I liked Holley’s writing as well and will look forward to Nick and TJ’s story (supporting characters in this book). 3.75 out of 5

Oh and while I was at Holley’s site I came across this very funny blog post: Orgasmic wombs and the penises that poke them.

Instant Gratification by Jill Shalvis was next on my list.  Another FTSP book.  (There are just too many of those FTSP books!)  Emma Sinclair has left her NY life as an ER doctor to help her estranged father out at his medical clinic in Wishful, CA where she spent the first 6 years of her life.  At first no one takes her seriously they just see her as Doc Sinclair’s daughter rather than a doctor.  She just wants Starbucks, Thai take out and someone to pay in something other than casseroles.  Then Stone Wilder comes in after falling 50 feet down a cliff.  She patches him up despite his grumblings that all he needs is a band-aid and some sparks fly.  Fighting the attraction is hard for Emma but she’s not about to get involved with someone from a small town when she’s going back to NY.  Yeah, easier said than done.  I enjoyed this book and the ease that Stone and Emma had around each other.  I did have some problems believing that Emma would want to stay in Wishful.  Also, secondary characters Serena and Spencer…that was completely unbelievable to me. (I’m not saying more in case you haven’t read the book and plan to but if you have read it you know what I mean.) 3.75 out of 5

And last but certainly not least was Dark Angel/Lord Carew’s Bride by Mary Balogh.  I’ve only read a couple of other books by Balogh but I really like her work.  These two were great stories that were originally published separately in 1994 and 1995.  Two cousins who show up in both books.  Dark Angel is about  Jennifer who has been unofficially engaged to Viscount Kersey since she was 15.  She believes herself passionately in love with him even though they’ve spent very little time together.  Now that she is 20 and she is officially engaged to him she believes life will be even more wonderful.  But Kersey’s got a sordid past and he’s an evil bugger – for only being 25.  Then there’s the Earl of Thornhill, Gabriel, who wants revenge on Kersey and Jennifer become a pawn in a game that she knows nothing about – her life changes forever.  

Lord Carew’s Bride is about Jennifer’s cousin, Samantha – also changed by Viscount Kersey’s evil ways.  While visiting Jennifer in the country she meets a man, Hartley Wade, who she believes is just a landscape gardener.  They become friends and Sam is very upset about having to go back to Town for the Season.  But Sam, despite her many male followers and the many offers she had from them, never wants to get married.  However when Hartley asks, she accepts because he’s “safe” and he’s her “friend”.  Yeah, that’s not exactly why he wants to marry you.  4.25 out of 5 for both stories.

You can go here for Hilcia’s review

And my review for A Certain Wolfish Charm by Lydia Dare posted on The Book Binge this week.