For the most part this past week was pretty quiet. Compared the week before it was very welcome!
The exciting part of the week was going to yet another So Cal Blogger/Author get together on Saturday, June 19. It was so much fun to see everyone again and meet even more So Cal readers, bloggers and authors. And one of the main reasons we all got together was that Pearl, from Pearl’s World of Books, was visiting LA from the Netherlands! Pearl is incredibly sweet and it was great to meet her! We All met at the Borders in the Century City Mall and then went on to the Ummba Grill, where the food was wonderful. They sat us in their “lounge” area which we came to find out was outside but I thought it was great to be able to get up and move around. Who cares that I ate with my food on my lap, I was in great company! 🙂 Here are pictures of the group:
I thought, what a great picture this turned out to be! And then I realized that the man who was taking the picture cut off Nikki and Lori! Oops! I’m going to tell you who everyone is because some of the faces were cut off in the total group picture. I’m hoping Pearl comes through with some better pics from her camera. 🙂 Starting from the left: Rosie, Judith, Rowena, Pearl, Holly, Rachel Jameson, me, Sabrina Darby, Wendy (down in front), Christa Paige, Zoe Archer, Danielle Yockman, Renee, Netta Ferguson
Definitely not as great of a picture but at least we’re all in it – although you can’t see Christa’s face at all! Lori and Nikki are on the left next to Rosie,
Then we moved on to our book swap in the garage. It was a fun time and we all pounced like scavengers! lol
And after it was all done these are the leftovers! I know – a ton left (and this picture below doesn’t include the very large box of books that were in my backseat! All the remaining books will go to my friend who is stocking a downtrodden local library. 🙂
I had a great time and can’t wait to do it all again soon!
So on to what I read this past week:
First up was No Souvenirs by KA Mitchell. Book 3 in the Diving in Deep series and it was just as good as the first 2 books. This was Jae Sun Kim’s story – he meets Shane McCormack while on a diving trip. Jae Sun doesn’t believe in love and seeing him have a meeting of the minds with Shane who ends up having 2 doctorates is something to behold. Good stuff. 4.5 out of 5
Kidnapping Kara by Alyssa Brooks was a novella I read for The Book Binge and I gotta say I really didn’t care for this one all that well. It was the story of a man who goes to look for the woman that he loved 8 years prior to save her from her job of stripping and the drugs that he’s been told (by her manipulative mother) that she’s doing. There were a few things that bothered me in the story – I’ll let you know when my review posts and then you can see what those are. 2 out of 5
Next up was Fortunate Harbor by Emilie Richards. You can read my review here and if you’re interested you can enter to win a bound galley. You’ve got until the 24th at 11:59pm (pacific) to enter. 3 out of 5
Angel of Thirteenth Street by Eden Winters was my next read. This was the story of a foster kid who had been kicked out of his home because he had turned 18 and the foster parents were no longer receiving checks. He was living in a basement of an abandoned warehouse and managing to still finish high school. He meets Noah when he goes to do his laundry at a local coin op. Turns out that Noah is known as the Angel because he helps get young male prostitutes off the streets. Noah takes Jeremy off the streets, gives him a place to live while Jeremy is hiding from the local pimp. Trust, faith and love bloom while saving Jeremy. This was my first read by Winters and I very much enjoyed her writing style. I’ll be reading more of her books in the future. 3.75 out of 5
My Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week was The Other Half of Your Heart by Janis Susan May. I think I got this one free from ARe in 2009 during their 12 days of Christmas giveaway. I just have to say that I’m very glad that I didn’t pay for it because it was a huge exercise in frustration. I get when the author wants to draw the reader in by not giving them all the information right away, but I like to be given at least some info during the course of the book. In this book a woman goes on a weekend with her boyfriend. When she gets to the airport she finds that he’s changed the tickets from New Orleans to Puerto Vallarta. On the first day that she’s there she is kidnapped and taken by a man who works with her in Dallas. She has no idea why he’s taking her and what’s happening. They run for their lives, but from whom? They are constantly on the run and you have no idea if the kidnapper is the good guy or the bad guy…or if the boyfriend is a good guy or a bad guy. While on the run the kidnapper, Dave, and Cara find common ground but not enough, imho, to warrant love – much less the other half of their hearts. I had absolutely no clue what was going on (and neither did the heroine) until page 99 and it was a 112 page book!!!! Anyway – not one I can recommend. 2 out of 5
Last but not least for the week was another read for The Book Binge. This was Barely a Lady by Eileen Dreyer. I’ve not read her before and apparently this is her first historical novel. I really liked it. The story of a man and a woman who divorce (gasp!) and she’s not so graciously shown the door. She finds him 5 years later after the battle of Waterloo in a French uniform. When he awakes he doesn’t remember much of anything and he believes their still married. There were a few issues I had with it but overall a good read. Anyway, I’ll let you know when my review posts so you can read more. 4 out of 5
Happy Reading!
My Book Binge reviews that posted this past week:
Swap Meet by Lolita Lopez (used for one of my m/m challenge reviews)