What I Read Last Week

Posted February 6, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 10 Comments

Hello there and Happy Monday.

This past week was…weird. I can’t explain it. It’s like everyone’s personalities were switched around and people were just acting strangely. Was it a full moon all day every day? That’s what it seemed like. I was very distracted as I’m having some issues with my oldest daughter and was really tired this week so I didn’t get much reading done.

We did head to a Taekwondo competition on Saturday and my youngest won a silver medal which we were very happy about. Here’s the form that she did that won that medal.

We got the Echo the kitty something called the Turbo Track and she is loving it. She can play with that thing for hours on end trying to get that ball! lol You can put it in 5 different configurations but she seems to like the figure 8 the best. This is the exciting video I shot of her playing. You can get a better idea of what she looks like too. 🙂

So – on to what I read:

I started off with a short novella called Dreams of a Hero by Charlie Cochrane. The story was about Miles and his partner Roger who take a trip to Greece. Miles starts having strange dreams about an ancient hero and it almost gives him a new strength (emotionally) that he didn’t have before. Months later Miles and Roger take a trip to Cape Cod and discover some bullies – a father/son pair – who are making life miserable for the LGBTQ community and Miles decides to do something about it. The story is quite short and more a story of being an everyday hero than anything else. I really liked it but wish I could have learned more about the main characters as they seemed to be quite interesting. 3 out of 5

Next up was Ink by Isabelle Rowan. This was a vampire story two men from different worlds. You can read my review here. 3.75 out of 5

Next was A Midsummer Night’s Sin by Kasey Michaels was next and it was a really great book. Puck, the hero was so wonderful. I loved him to pieces. I loved his humor and his playfulness – just everything about him. The story was about Regina who goes to a masquerade ball and her cousin disappears. Regina was having an illicit kiss out in the garden with a man – who turns out to be Puck – and then can’t find her cousin. Puck and Regina then set out to find out what happened to Miranda and find that it may be white slavers that took the girl. During the course of the investigation Puck and Regina fall in love but how can they be together when Regina’s father wants to sell her to a title and Puck was born a bastard. I liked the story and can’t wait to read the next book about the Blackthorn brothers. 4 out of 5

Last for the week was a book I read for The Book Binge called The Duchess Diaries by Jillian Hunter. I really liked the first two books in this series so I was looking forward to this story. Unfortunately it didn’t blow me away. The story was about Charlotte who ends up having to get married to the Duke of Wynfield after they are found together in what could have been considered a compromising position (it wasn’t all that compromising, really). The pair court while people look for the diary that was stolen from Charlotte and could ruin the academy that she works at. The story was cute and very sweet – entertaining even, but it just wasn’t as good as I hoped. 3.25 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Blank Slate Kate by Heather Wardell

Happy Reading!

10 Comments

Tagged: Charlie Cochrane, Family, Isabelle Rowan, Jillian Hunter, Kasey Michaels, Taekwondo, What I Read Last Week, What I've Been Reading This Week

Review: Ink by Isabelle Rowan

Posted February 3, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 6 Comments

Roman centurion Dominic drew his last human breath during the time of Hadrian. In the centuries since, he’s seen much of the world change around him, but the vampire finds himself held captive in Melbourne, Australia, by his fascination with young, passionate, fun-loving, and alive tattoo artist Michael Chapman. Unable to resist the lure of Michael’s beauty, Dominic finds himself entering the parlor to get a tattoo he knows will fade.

The attraction he feels only grows, and despite Dominic’s extreme reluctance to get involved with a human, he and Michael form a bond—a connection that all too soon attracts the attention of a dark specter from Dominic’s bloody past. Soon, a dangerous game of cat and mouse threatens not only the budding romance, but also their humanity.

Dominic has been a vampire a long time. He knows that he can’t get attached to any humans but yet, the tattooist, Michael, almost calls to him. He knows that extended contact with Michael will make it harder for Michael to forget Dominic but he can’t seem to help himself. Eventually Michael seeks Dominic out and more than a bond is formed – love grows. It happens quickly but they just know that it’s right.

Michael decides that he will do anything to be with Dominic and to not lose the man he’s come to know and love. He decides that he wants to be changed to a vampire and Dominic agrees. But Michael isn’t prepared to become someone different. He wants to continue being just as human as he was before but he finds that that may not be as easy as he believed it would be. He soon learns that life as a vampire is much more difficult than he first thought.

Then there’s Galen who was the vampire who “made” Dominic who comes into town to wreak havoc with Dominic, Michael and their relationship. He’s out to prove something to himself as well as the two lovers and he’ll stop at nothing to get his point across.

This was an interesting love story in the fact that Dominic and Michael were so very different. They came from different worlds and from what I could tell didn’t have all that much in common. That being said they had a love that was boundless and, though tested a lot and doubted just a tad, incredibly strong. Both Dominic and Michael were stronger beings than they ever believed about themselves and proved that time and again. Their love was the absolute best part of this book for me.

I really liked Michael’s friend Abby in this story. She was the kind of friend that I think everyone should have. She loved Michael to pieces and believed in him no matter what. She showed her support and love in endless ways and I loved reading when parts of the story came about.

The story for me was quite intriguing for the first part of the book but seemed to slow down considerably in the second half of the book when Galen showed up. He was out to prove that no matter what, once you become a vampire, you lose your humanity. You can’t possibly be a thoughtful or giving being – it turns into all about YOU – as it did with Galen. I found that while I liked the thought behind that, the flashbacks of when Galen was turning Dominic and “showing” that info to Michael really slowed things down. I know it served a particular purpose but it just didn’t work for me. I also felt that the book lost a little umpf during the second half as Dominic and Michael were apart so much of the time. Since they were the electric factor that was keeping me reading the story lost a bit of its light.

Overall it was a very good story that I enjoyed reading but it was definitely a slower paced read for me.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

Isabelle Rowan

Dreamspinner Press