Tag: Ethan Day

What I Read Last Week

Posted March 19, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 13 Comments

Happy, happy day!
How are you? I’m very busy at work with Easter and Holy Week coming up (since I work at a church…and all of you who are wondering about church/my potty mouth? What can I say – I’m a one of a kind church lady. lol) and that has us all working out tails off. I’d like to say it keeps me out of trouble but…it doesn’t!
You’ll all be happy to know that we bought a refrigerator!!! Yippee-ky-yay motherfucker! OMG I’m just the happiest woman alive. I can’t wait for it to get here on Wednesday. You’re all wondering what happened with the hubby/Tracy fridge debate, aren’t you? Who won? Neither. We ended up going with neither fridge we looked at prior and bought a Kenmore from Sears that would knock your socks off. It was $1500.00 less than the original price and though that still made it a couple hundred more than what I was looking to spend, we got a nicer and bigger fridge. I’m just happy that the search is over!
Another exciting thing happened this past Friday. I got home from work and both my parents were there and gave me an early birthday present (when I say early I mean 6 weeks early) of a brand new laptop! Holy shit. My other laptop was a hand-me-down from my hubby and it was very slow with very little memory and disk space which was about 9 years old. The new one is a Dell Inspiron and is small, light, has lots of memory and a 500GB hard drive. I love it to pieces and couldn’t thank my parents enough. I have never had a new laptop – I felt so spoiled!
So enough about my life…let’s get on to the books!
I started off the week with As You Are by Ethan Day. This was the story of Julian and his roommate Danny. Julian’s had the hots for Danny for as long as he’s known him. Danny has steered clear of Julian because he doesn’t want to screw up their friendship. Julian’s like: screw with it, please! lol Just when Julian meets a great guy Danny makes a move and he and Julian fall into bed. But things don’t always work out the way you plan them and that is SO true for Julian. This was a wonderful and hilarious story. I loved Julian to death and his sense of humor was killer. He was snarky and sarcastic and a man after my own heart. lol The issue that I had with this story was that even though it was in the first person I really got to see the other side of the secondary characters – Julian’s mom & Julian’s best friend Gwen…but not so with Danny. I ended the story not really knowing who he was and though I could see the physical attraction that Julian had for the man I was a bit in the dark as to what the appeal was. Don’t get me wrong, I still wanted them together I just wanted to know Danny as well as I knew the two female characters. 4 out of 5
Next up was Midnight Remedy by Eve Gaddy. This story followed Piper Stevenson who gave an herbal remedy for dry skin to a friend. The friend ended up making it as a tea for her husband (what????) and ended up curing his impotence. Ok, weird. So, Dr. Eric Chambers heads over to talk to Piper to try and find out what was in the recipe for the dry skin so that he can pass it on to his friend who is doing research on impotence. But Piper isn’t willing to give up the secret – not that she doesn’t want to find a cure but she wants absolutely NO publicity for her and her son due to her past. The story was decent and the love story was very sweet. I did have some issues with it but you’ll have to read my review to find out what they were. lol I’ll let you know when it posts on The Book Binge. 3.75 out of 5
Be My Vampire Tonight by Renee Field was a free Kindle read that I downloaded. This is the first in a series and though we meet the characters from the next 2 books in this book we are really left in the dark as to what’s going on with them. I guess that’s supposed to intrigue you enough to read the next two. Anyway, the story was about a woman who recently inherited a boatload of money and heads to a charity auction with her friends. She ends up bidding on a masked man and later finds out not only is HE a vampire but wow, so is she (well a half-breed). The problem is is that masked man became a vampire by selling his soul to Satan so getting it back may be tricky. It was a good story but didn’t make me want to run out and read more by this author. 3 out of 5
Never Been Bit by Lydia Dare is 3rd in the Regency Vampire trilogy. This story followed characters that we’d met in previous books – Alec who was turned into a vampire and Sorcha the youngest witch of her coven. Sorcha is visiting England from Scotland and is looking to find a Lycan man to fall in love with. Her fellow coven witches did it and she thinks they are hotter than hell so she sets off to snare one. But Alec McQuarrie who is a family friend ruins her plans by kissing her and making her think of nothing but him. Unfortunately what Sorcha eventually thinks of as Alec loving her isn’t that at all. I have to say that Lydia Dare always provides me with an entertaining read. They blend the paranormal with the historical so well and there aren’t many of those that I like besides this authors. I will definitely be reading the next books by them that also have continuing characters (even though it’s a new series). 4 out of 5
One of my Tracy’s TBR Challenge Read for the week (the others were Never Been Bit and As You Are) was Silver Shark by Ilona Andrews was really good, I just wanted it to be longer! It’s a novella about a woman from a planet that has been at war for hundreds of years. She manages to get off planet as a refugee by shielding her mental powers. She begins work as a secretary for a man who’s mind is almost as powerful as hers. She imagines the guy in a million different compromising positions but holds herself back for fear of discovery of what she really is. I loved the story but as I said wanted it to be longer. Though I liked the romance we didn’t get to see much beyond when they finally got together and I wanted to see it all. I know, I’m greedy that way. lol  4 out of 5
Much Ado About Rogues by Kasey Michaels was a highly intriguing mystery/suspense/romance. This is the 3rd book in the Blackthorn Brothers series and it was good. Jack and his former lover Tess set out to find Tess’s father who has gone missing. You can read more in my review here. 3.75 out of 5
Trust in the Lawe by Stacey Joy Netzel was my next read . I read a short story by this author and really liked it so decided to get this book. The premise of the story is that Kendra and her brother Noah are on the run and hiding from her older half-brother (from her dad) who wants to kill them so that he can get all of his father’s money – like 15 million dollars – before Kendra turns 25 and gets control of it all. Kendra heads to Colorado to meet another half-brother (from her mom) who doesn’t even know that she and Noah exist. The ranch manager is skeptical for many reasons about Kendra and if she’s on the up and up. Colton and Kendra are attracted to each other but it takes them a while to act on it. So there’s the romance and then the wondering when the brother, Robert, will show up to kill her and her brother. The story was good and honestly I couldn’t stop turning page after page so the author obviously had a way with words that attracted me but Kendra and Colton really pissed me off. lol I understood the mistrust at first but they couldn’t stop slinging insults at each other and then they’d fall in bed. Ok, it was more complicated than that but it was frustrating to not see any of the good parts of the relationship and only be shown the bad. So there was good and bad. I certainly won’t give up on the author as I think she’s got something I like about her writing. 3 out of 5
Last up for the week was Winning the Wallflower by Eloisa James. This is a novella in the Fairy Tales series #2.5. The story follows Lucy who is tall and plain but engaged so, right on. But then her great aunt leaves her a great deal of money and now she’s an heiress. Her mother wants her to break off her engagement because the man is “beneath” Lucy now. Lucy really doesn’t want to but when she sits and talks to her fiancé, Cyrus, she realizes that she was just the best of bunch of titled women that he had to choose from – he never really SAW her. Well, when it’s brought to Cyrus’s attention he realizes what he’s missed and makes an effort to win Lucy back. This was a very cute story. It was short so I expected the I love you’s to come quickly but they came even quicker than expected. Despite that I thought it was lovely. 3.75 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!

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What I Read Last Week

Posted July 4, 2011 by Tracy in Features | 7 Comments

Happy 4th of July! (For those of you celebrating!)  I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday.  The girls and I headed over this morning to a local parade – over in the town where my parents live. Very small town but cute.

This week begins some early morning rising for me.  You see my oldest starts summer school tomorrow for the month of July – from 7:00am until Noon.  The school where it will take place is near my work – and a distance from my home – so my boss told me I could work 7:00am-3:30 pm for the month of July.  While I know I’ll love getting out of work early (I usually work 8:30am-5:00pm) the getting up at the butt crack of dawn every day is going to kill me, I just know it.  My reading will suffer. I know that I’ll have to go to bed earlier and not have as much time to read in the evenings after the chicklets go to bed.  Maybe I can make up for it in the afternoons?  I’ll have to see how that pans out.

Diet and Exercise – I’ve been bad about updating this – I don’t think I have for a couple of weeks – sorry.  I’m at a stand still at the same weight from my last weigh in – so only a total of 2.4 pounds lost.  I’m happy I haven’t gained – so that’s a plus.  I think I have my hubby talked into moving our treadmill into the living room. Yes it will be completely unsightly but with it currently in the garage I just never use it.  It’s hotter than hell out there right now (it’s been in the 100’s this past week) and moving it inside would be a much bigger motivator for me.

So what did I read this past week?

My first book for the week was Waking Up With the Duke by Lorraine Heath.   A good book and I loved the hero!  You can read my review here. 3.75 out of 5

Next up was Pushed to the Limit by Nico Rosso.  This is book 2 in the Limit War series and it was good.  I really liked the characters and the romance.  You can read my review here. 3.75 out of 5

Smashed Into Pieces by Scarlet Blackwell was a book that I read for The Book Binge.  I didn’t care for this book for the most part.  There were a few things about it I liked but only a few.  The male hero seemed like a stalker and the other male hero just wanted to be left alone and kept telling man 1 that, but did he listen?  No.  I have been told by Chris that there are a couple of books that she liked by Blackwell so I’ll check those out in the future and not give up on the author. You can read my review here if you’re interested. 1.5 out of 5

Next was another Book Binge book called Loving the Beast by Naima Simone.  This was a erotic version of a beauty and the beast tale.  While I liked the story there just wasn’t enough of it.  Too much sex for me and not enough story  2 out of 5  You can read my review here if you’re interested.

My next read, another one for The Book Binge, was called Flying Blind by Deborah Cooke.  If you’ve been reading the Dragonfire series by Cooke you might be interested in this one.  This is a YA book that is told in 1st person POV by Zoe Sorensson, daughter of Erik, leader of the Pyr (whose book is Kiss of Fate).  This is the first book in a trilogy called the Dragon Diaries and in this book Zoe is frustrated by her lack of puberty as well as her lack of dragon powers.  Supposedly she is the new Wyvern of the Pyr but so far she’s not seeing anything that shows she’s this amazing dragon.  It was a good story and I can’t wait to read what happens next in Zoe’s life.  4 out of 5

My next read was Sno Ho by Ethan Day.  This is a novella about man, Boone, who’s visiting Colorado supposedly to have a romantic time with his boyfriend.  But his boyfriend breaks up with him over the phone and he goes and gets drunk.  He picks up a guy, Wade, but has no idea what happened.  Turns out that it just might be the best thing that’s ever happened to him.  The two spend some time together but the getting to that point is fun and funny.  I really liked both Wade and Boone and enjoyed the story a lot.  4 out of 5 (I did pick up Life in Fusion with is a novel that is the continuing story of Wade and Boone but put it down after about 100 pages.  It just wasn’t capturing my attention so I’ll have to come back to it at a later time.)

My last book for the week was Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn.  This is the first book in a 4 books series about the Smythe-Smith family.  If you’ve read the Bridgerton series then you know that the Smythe-Smith’s are the family that put on the yearly musicale that is horrific.  Honoria is one of the instrumentalists and though she loathes the fact that she has to do the musicale she loves her family so perseveres.  Honoria and Marcus have known each other for 15 years and Marcus is Honoria’s brother’s best friend.  They end up falling in love.  This was a cute book.  The romance could have been fleshed out more and yes, the characters could have been explored more fully but in the end I really liked the book.  Quinn’s always sucks me in and with the emotion and the humor mixed into her stories I end up really loving her work. 4 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Smashed Into Pieces by Scarlet Blackwell
Loving the Beast by Naima Simone

Happy Reading!

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What I Read Last Week

Posted March 15, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 9 Comments

Well it was a pretty quiet week this past week – no science projects or belt tests.  That stuff always seems to happen at once, doesn’t it?   This pretty much leads me to reading because I’ve got nothing else to say! lol
My first book was a read for The Book Binge – but also me catching up on my series as well. Yes, my March endeavor is called Finish the Series but it could also be called Catch Up on The Series since I’m so behind in some!  Anyway, the book was Atlantis Redeemed by Alyssa Day.  This is book 7 in the Warriors of Poseidon series and a a good one.  It told of Brennan who was cursed 2000 years ago to never feel emotion until he met his one true mate but when he was away from her he’d forget her.  Bummer.  I’ve sent in my review and will let you know when it posts.  4.25 out of 5
Next up was another attempt at the Finish the Series Project – which will now be known as FTSP.  I read An Impossible Attraction by Brenda Joyce.  It was a good read .  And I have to say I love the cover – simple but beautiful.  You can read my review here.  4.25 out of 5
After that I read Self Preservation by Ethan Day.  A funny yet touching story about a man who is still in love with his ex but finds himself desperate to get him back when he finds out his ex is getting married.  My review here.  3.75 out of 5
Understood by Maya Banks was a short story about a woman who had been married to a famous football star and was abused.  It’s been 2 years and she’s now ready to live her life again.  One of her good friends – and former best friend of her husband – wants her in a bad way and always has.  He’s not about to let her head off with another man.  But is she really ready to take that next step.  This was an ok read for me.  It was a little predictable but very sweet and erotic.  3 out of 5
Another FTSP read was All I Want For Christmas is a Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks.  This is book 5 in the Love at Stake series (and I still need to read 6 & 7 to catch up) and it was a cute one.  This was Ian’s story.  He was changed to a vamp when he was 15 on a battlefield.  Even though he was centuries old he hated always looking 15.  In the previous book he drank a serum that one of the vamps had invented and every day he took it he looked a year older.  It was extremely painful but he now looks 27 and is ready to find his true love.  He enlists the help of his friend Vanda but she ends up putting him on a dating site and he’s inundated with vamps and mortals.  It just doesn’t work.  Especially since he’s got his eye on Toni – the new daytime guard. Only Toni’s not exactly coming clean about why she’s taking care of vamps.  I like this series because it’s just fun.  Nothing too heavy, lots of humor and good sex…and vampires – what’s not to like. 3.75 out of 5
Yes I was on a roll with my FTSP reads and grabbed Angel’s Peak (Virgin River book 10) by Robyn Carr.  I have to say that I think book 11 – which I already bought – will be my last in this series.  If I hadn’t already bought book 11 this would have been my last.  While I really like Carr’s writing style the series, for me, has grown a little stagnant.  I think the first 3 books and A Virgin River Christmas were my favs and while good since then the books are just a little too much.  This story followed Sean Riordan.  He was in a relationship 4 years ago that ended badly – only he could never forget her.  Back then he was a playboy – even though he was in a committed relationship with Franci for 2 years.  He didn’t want to be tied down to her by a piece of paper and certainly didn’t want kids.  Well Franci didn’t bother to tell him that she was pregnant when they parted.  Now they meet again and he’s shocked to learn of his daughter.  But he’s grown in 4 years and takes to fatherhood like a fish to water.  While I thought Sean was a complete ass for the first part of the book he really stepped up and was a good guy by the end of the book. The problem I had with this book is that it was like 2 stories.  The first story being Sean and Franci’s and the second part being Sean’s mother, Maureen.  I didn’t have a problem with her story but I wasn’t prepared to read 2 books in one.  I wanted more Sean and Franci!  3.25 out of 5
Last but not least….Mind Games by Carolyn Crane!  Yay me ! 🙂  I won this from Carolyn’s blog and read it yesterday.  I’ll post a review this week.  I’m not saying more. lol
Happy Reading!

(Oh, and the Ethan Day, Kerrelyn Sparks and Maya Banks books were also Tracy TBR Challenge Reads.  I really need to keep all these projects and challenges straight in my mind!)

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M/M Challenge Review: Self Preservation by Ethan Day

Posted March 12, 2010 by Tracy in Reviews | 14 Comments

Davis always assumed they would wind up back together, until Jack calls and invites Davis to his wedding to Tadd Austin, a prominent architect in Chicago. Jack’s only known Tadd for two weeks, so whatever Jack feels for Tadd couldn’t possibly compare to what he shared with Davis. There’s no way in hell Davis can stand by and watch the life he always expected to get back slip away to some guy Jack barely knows. Tadd Austin, indeed…more like Toad Ass-ton, Davis thinks.

With his best friend, fashion designer Deseree Wildwood in tow, Davis has to shed his sweet, guy-next-door persona, and re-vamp his image into a self-confident, hot piece of eye candy. He’s going to the wedding with only one goal in mind: to do whatever it takes to win back Jack. The Toad is toast!

Once in Chicago, Davis discovers it isn’t going to be as easy as he thought. Not only is Tadd very un-Toad-like, but a mysterious British playboy named Alex Parker manages to interject himself into the mix. Only true love will survive as the tug of war ensues in this Bermuda love triangle from hell.

Jack invites Davis to his wedding because Jack still loves Davis – but not as a boyfriend – more as a lifelong friend, even though they were once together intimately for 4 years. But Davis doesn’t believe that Jack is really in love with Tadd aka Toad because he’s only known him 2 weeks so he agrees to go the wedding, but his plan is to get Jack to realize that he loves Davis and not Toad.

Deseree gets Davis to Chicago early and gives him a makeover. He’s looking pretty hot by the time they meet up with Jack and Tadd. You can tell from minute one that Jack definitely still has feelings for Davis – but obviously not strong enough. Davis is freaking out because time’s a wastin and Jack is still moving along with his plans to wed Tadd.

In the midst of Davis trying to coax Jack away from Tadd he meets Alex. Alex is a playboy with a fantastic, kind of base sense of humor (that I enjoyed thoroughly) and is willing to help Deseree and Davis in their plotting against Tadd. But Alex ends up with much more interest in Davis.

In the end – and quite a bit happens to get us there – Davis has to realize that as much as he may think that he’s in love with Jack – he’s more in love with the Jack of his past. He truly doesn’t know the current Jack as they haven’t been together for 6 years. So what does he do? Give up or keep trying to get Jack away from Tadd?

This is my first read by Ethan Day, but it certainly won’t be my last. I enjoyed his writing style immensely and of course the wonderful sense of humor that he imbibed his characters with. I love humor in books and this was great.

Davis grew quite a bit in this book and I loved seeing that. He has flashbacks to college when he first meets Jack and then again from 1 year prior to the wedding. I think that the flashbacks helped us get a good grasp on their relationship without having a full info dump and that was much appreciated. I did see from these flashbacks though that Jack and Davis’s relationship was lacking a huge amount of communication. They just couldn’t talk to each other and let the other know what they were thinking and feeling. It was rather sad to see their relationship dissolve for such a reason but it does happen all the time – in RL and in books. There were a few parts of the book that I would have like to have seen expanded but I think that’s just my personal preference rather than an absolute necessity. 🙂

In the end I thought that Self Preservation was a fun read that I’d recommend if you’re looking for a humorous book with some serious parts thrown in.

Rating 3.75 out of 5 

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