Tag: Jordan Castillo Price

What I Read Last Week

Posted November 21, 2011 by Tracy in Reviews | 8 Comments

This week was another relatively relaxed week. No fires or smoke in the microwave so that was a plus! (Although that smell is still lingering every time we turn on the microwave!). The girls and I just watched movies yesterday and had fun hanging out and being cozy while it rained outside.
The highlight of my week was on Saturday the hubby and I went to a monumental event – my friend Claire’s 100th birthday party. She turned 100 on Nov. 16th and on the day of the party she told us she was 103. We just kind of looked at her funny and she said, “I’m 100 years and 3 days old and I want credit for every minute of it!” lol She’s so funny – and wonderful – and adorable – and I just can’t say enough about how much I love this woman. She has led an amazing life – she was a public health nurse and was in Pearl Harbor when it was bombed. She’s lived in the Philippines, Hong Kong & Hawaii (and Hawaii is one of her favorite places on earth hence the lei’s) as well as many other places in Asia while raising two great sons. She’s taken adventures and just lived a full and happy life. It was a great party and I was so glad I was asked to be a part of it. Here we are enjoying ourselves on Saturday night:
On to the reading…
I started the week with In the Eye of the Beholder by Beverly Cialone. This was the second book that I had read by this author and it was incredibly similar to the first in extreme ways. You can read my reviews for both of this authors books here. 1.5 out of 5
Next up was the book I read for my TBR Challenge which was Heart of Fire by Linda Howard. This was the story of an expedition in the Amazon and a romance that happens along the way. I really liked this book a lot and loved the hero, Ben. I may have to steal his ass from Rowena and Holly. You can read my review here. 4.5 out of 5
Next up was the third book in the Limit War Series by Nico Rosso, The Limit of Desire. This was about a Jessa and Ryder who have had a fling and enjoyed every moment of it but Jessa is Ryder’s commanding officer and though Ryder wants more from the relationship Jessa is hesitant due to many reasons. You can read my review of this very good book here. 4.0/4.25 out of 5
Love, Come to Me by Lisa Kleypas is a re-release that I read for The Book Binge. This book was originally written in 1988 and one of her earliest works. I very much could tell the incredible changes that have been made in her writing since she first began. I actually had to remind myself a couple of times who the author was! The story was right after the Civil War and is about a southern man falling in love with a northerner. They have their many ups and downs and of course a huge lack of communication but eventually work it out. I liked the book but it was definitely my least favorite of Kleypas’s work so far. 3 out of 5
Between Seasons by Aida Brassington was another book that I read for The Book Binge. This was the story of 19 year old Patrick who dies in his home back in 1970. He becomes a ghost there and the story tells of him from 1970 until 2010 (not EVERYTHING! lol) when someone new buys the house. Patrick falls in love with the new homeowner and aches because he can’t be with her in human form. Strange things happen and soon not only can the homeowner, Sara, hear him but she can eventually see him. It’s a bizarre but beautiful tale of love and I very much enjoyed reading it. 4.5 out of 5
Next was the novella, Hopes and Fears, by Rowan Speedwell. This is a follow up story of Brian McCarthy from Finding Zach. Brian has finished his book about Zach but now he’s living in Chicago and trying to deal with his life and the different feelings he’s trying to work through. He meets Jerry who is his physical therapist and is completely interested. Brian however only does hook-ups/one night stands and Jerry only dates men he might consider being with long-term. The story is so good and the tale of their relationship and how the two men get together is just told incredibly well. If you read Finding Zach then I highly recommend you reading this one as well. 4.5 out of 5 (Thanks to Tam for telling me about this one!)
Last for the week was GhosTV by Jordan Castillo Price. I hate to say that this is my Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week (yes, I’ve been sadly falling down on the job with this personal challenge lately) but I have had it for a while. This is book 6 in the series and while I didn’t like it quite as well as the last few it was still very good. The story was about Vic and Jacob heading to California when they find out that their friend Lisa is missing from her school, PsyTrain. They have to deal with people they don’t care to deal with, Vic meets up with someone from his past which is a shock and there are more than a few surprises in the book (not to mention kind of cliff-hanger at the end). It was a really well written and engaging and a definite read if you’ve read books 1-5. (In fact, if you haven’t read books 1-5 then don’t read this one as you’ll be completely lost! lol) 4.25 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!


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What I Read Last Week

Posted July 11, 2011 by Tracy in Features | 9 Comments

Here we are again! It doesn’t seem possible that a whole week has gone by since I wrote last Monday’s post. Time flies when you’re old! lol
I was totally correct last week – getting up early is killing me! lol It’s definitely not easy getting up early in the morning and it’s really hard to go to bed so much earlier than I normally do just so I can get a decent amount of sleep. Luckily this is only for 3 more weeks. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right? Please say right. lol
This past weekend the fam and I headed down to San Diego to see my sister who was down there for work. We ended up going to the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla and then having a picnic in Balboa Park in SD. The aquarium was small but there was a lot of interesting things for the kids to do and we had a lot of fun. The park was beautiful and the it wore the kids out so that was nice. lol
Here are a few pictures:
The view from the aquarium
My sister
My fam, my niece, her boyfriend and his kids
Checking out the tide pools
My reading wasn’t squashed as much as I thought it would be this past week. I did read shorter books in between the longer ones which was nice.
First up was Brightest Kind of Darkness by PT Michelle. This was a YA novel that I really loved. You can read my review here. 4.5 out of 5
Next up was book 2 in the Lessons in Love trilogy by Suzanne Enoch called London’s Perfect Scoundrel. This was Evelyn’s book and it was great! Evelyn decides that she’s going to volunteer some time at an orphanage that she passes all the time. But she finds that she must past muster with the Board of Trustees before she can do anything and that’s where she runs into the Marquis St. Aubyn. St. Aubyn is a rake and a scoundrel and no one that a proper lady should be associated with. St. Aubyn decides he wants to bed Evelyn but he gets much more than he bargained for when he decides to pursue her. This was a great book. Once I picked it up I had a very hard time putting it down. I loved that we got such a great deal of page time with St. Aubyn as I just loved his character. I did have a little bit of an issue with Evelyn’s family. She was seen as a total dimwit by her family but she was really pretty smart. I just couldn’t understand how they could view here that way – just because she went along with what they said all the time. That was just a little niggle and didn’t effect my overall enjoyment of the book. I can’t wait to read the next book. 5 out of 5
Next up was Muffled Drum by Erastes. This was the story of two men who fall in love and are almost torn apart by a case of amnesia. Good stuff. 4 out of 5 You can read my review here.
Next was Sympathy by Jordan Castillo Price. While delivering plants to a house in his neighborhood that always scared the bejeezers out of him as a kid Tony meets David, the new owner of the house. The story was of David and Tony getting to know each other and the strange connection David had with Tony. Good story. 3.5 out of 5
Addicted to You by Bethany Kane was my next read . This is an erotic romance but there was a great story involved here that I really liked. Katie heads to southern Illinois to try and help her friend Rill. Rill’s wife had died two years before and Rill had ended up drinking himself silly in a small town. Katie and Rill end up in bed together but during that time the two find out quite a bit about themselves. I liked the characters in this one a lot and loved seeing each of them grown during the story. 4 out of 5
Next was a short called Jennifer’s Lion by Lizzie Lynn Lee. The story was that a woman is drugged dumped in the Savannah by her so-called fiancé so that he can collect the insurance money. But Jennifer is found by a shape-shifting lion clan who takes her in. Of course the alpha wants to claim her and they’re having sex not an hour after she wakes up from certain death. I didn’t care for the story much at all – the instant sex was off-putting and there was no real depth to it at all. Then I got to the epilogue where the man goes down on the woman in his lion form – Oh heeeeeelll no. I didn’t bother reading further even though there were only 2 pages or so left. Not my cuppa, thank you. 1 out of 5
Slings & Arrows by Josh Lanyon was another short I read. This was about a college student who has a crush on one of his teacher’s assistants, Walter. He likes Walter but the pair is awkward around each other. It was very sweet and I really loved how the pair came together despite their huge communication issues. 4 out of 5
Last for the week was A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran. This was an unusual historical romance. Nell grew up in one of the worst parts of London. She finds out from her mother, right before her mother dies, that she is the daughter of an Earl. She thinks she’s a bastard daughter and goes to kill the man when she asks for money and is ignored. She finds out that not only is her father dead but she’s not the bastard daughter – she is the missing daughter who was kidnapped when she was 6 years old. The current earl wants to turn her into a lady so that she can be recognized as who she truly is as well as get the money that is due her and that they will split. Simon marries Nell but originally plans to annul the marriage if she isn’t recognized as the long lost daughter. The pair end up falling in love, but there are many people who get in their way of happiness, including themselves. A really good book that has Duran’s typical wonderful writing. The book almost had a kind of Pygmalion feel to it but it was so much more. 4.25 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Happy Reading!


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What I Read Last Week

Posted August 30, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 16 Comments

Good morning!
Whatcha up to?  Anything fun happening in your life?  My life last week was pretty fun.  We had back to school night for my oldest so we got to meet all of her teachers and walk around the campus.  They all seem pretty nice so that’s a bonus.
Then Friday night my youngest had another belt test.  She technically hadn’t qualified since she took the entire month of July off (and you need a certain amount of class time to qualify) but for some reason they made an exception for her.  So instead of having 3 or 4 months to learn all she needed to know she had already learned it in 6 weeks!  Yikes.  That girl is determined to be a black belt.  Go baby! 🙂  This time she had to break a board with a punch instead of a kick. She passed and is now a blue belt. Here she is breaking the board:
Then on Sunday I drove out and met some of the So Cal Bloggers for lunch.  Ames was visiting from Canada and it was so good to meet her!  She’s just adorable and so, so nice.  We all had a great time eating at The Cheesecake Factory and shopping at Borders.

Lori, Ames, Wendy, Rosie, Rowena, me, Holly  Nikki

On to what I read this past week:
My first read for the week was book 4 in the Psycop series, Secrets by Jordan Castillo Price.  This was an excellent read!  The story continued Vic and Jacob’s relationship which had some wonderful as well as stressful moments.  Jacob and his Psycop partner, Carolyn, are working on a sex crime in a retirement home and it’s taking it’s toll on Jacob.  Vic tries to help figure out who the culprit is.  This one vies for first with book 5 as my favorite.  I loved everything about this book.  Such a good series.  5 out of 5
Next up was a read for The Book Binge, Seduced by a Highlander by Paula Quinn.  This is book 2 in the Children of the Mist series and is Tristan’s story. Tristan meets Isobel at the king’s coronation but doesn’t know she is part of his clan’s mortal enemy.  He starts not to care and is determined to have her.  I really liked Tristan in this story and though the heroine was a bit hard headed it really worked for me. 4.25 out of 5
Next was The Sweetest Deal by Mary Campisi.  This releases from Carina Press on the 6th of September.  The hero is trying to make a real estate development deal with a financial backer.  Only the backer wants something in return – he wants the hero to impregnate his daughter.  Talk about getting too involved in your children’s lives! lol  The hero agrees because he’s desperate to make the deal, but once he meets the daughter (though he doesn’t know it’s her at the time) he falls hard and fast.  The heroine has been severely burned in a relationship and is reluctant to put her heart on the line again.  This was a cute book but I have to say I didn’t like the heroine very much.  She wanted to be A-#1 in her dad’s eyes but was positive that she couldn’t get there because she was a woman instead of a man.  She was a barracuda in her work place but she was also pretty whiney and immature and it grated on my nerves a bit. The hero definitely saved this book for me. 3 out of 5
Cross Your Heart by Michele Bardsley was another book that I read for The Book Binge.  This is book 7 in the Broken Heart Vampire series.  It was about a staid vampire woman living in Broken Heart who’s having issues with what appears to be a ghost.  She’s saved by a were-cat who wants her all to himself.  It was a great little romance and mystery all rolled into one.  Bardsley’s books are always fun, entertaining reads.  4 out of 5
Next up was Camp Hell by Jordan Castillo Price.  This is book 5 and the last book in the series – so far.   It was another excellent read.  More Vic and Jacob as well as Vic looking into his time and “training” at Camp Hell.  You can read my review here5 out of 5
For The Love of Mollie by KT Grant was my next read.  This is a cute romance about a woman, Mollie, who is determined to lose weight so that the man she’s had a crush on forever will finally notice her.  She heads to the gym and ends up meeting the owner, Connor.  Connor is all over her and wants more.  They start a sexual relationship but Mollie is just positive that Connor is too good to be true.  Why would a man like him be interested in a woman like her, she asks herself.  As I said, very cute.  Mollie was a bit of a hypocrite at times but I really liked Connor and his determination with Mollie.  3.75 out of 5
My Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week was Snowbound by Larissa Ione.  Olympic silver medalist, now working as a ski patroller and EMT, Sean, wants to break his sexual dry spell but for some reason the blonde bimbos aren’t doing it for him.  When he sees Robyn who is back in her hometown for her high school reunion he falls for her.  Robyn wants nothing to do with anyone who is anywhere near celebrity status.  She can’t seem to stay away from Sean though.  This was a very good book about learning what you want out of life and the importance of trust in a relationship.  I really enjoyed it. 4 out of 5
I read A Matter of Duty by Elizabeth Jewell for The Book Binge.  This was a bizarre little book about a shapeshifter and his wife.  He’s not a typical shapeshifter (I always think werewolves and were-cats, etc) – more like he can morph and make himself look like any human he wants.  Being the head of the shapeshifters only he can impregnate women who are married to humans as humans and shapeshifters can’t procreate.  But his wife wants a baby too.  So the other woman’s human husband steps in – in a bizarre 4 way.  Wow.  2 out of 5
While I was on my way to the blogger get together I actually listened to my very first audio book.  It was a 2.5 hour drive each way – it really made the time go by quicker – ok, it only seemed to, but still. 🙂  I listened to Someone to Watch Over Me by Judith McNaught.  The story is about a Broadway star who is married only her husband is missing, then found dead.  Did she do it or did her stalker?  Or maybe it’s the known criminal who keeps showing up.  It was a good story – the narrator was a bit breathy and I can’t say I loved all of the voices she did for the characters, but the book was good.  It was romance “light” and the romance seemed a bit rushed, imho, but still good. 4 out of 5
And last on the list was The Perfect Rake by Anne Gracie.  I have to thank Orannia for recommending this one to me. (It was when we were talking about how petite and little the characters were and how beautiful.  This book has the heroine as a plain woman but the hero thinks her beautiful and doesn’t even notice her 4 sisters who are gorgeous.)  5 orphaned sisters being beaten by their grandfather escape to their great-uncle under false pretenses.  The oldest, Prudence, creates a betrothal to a Duke she’s never met in order for her sisters to be presented into society.  The book is so good.  Hilarious and touching. It got a bit sappy at the end for my liking but still wonderful.  4.5 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted this past week:
Happy Reading!


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DIK Reading Challenge and M/M Challenge Review: Camp Hell by Jordan Castillo Price

Posted August 26, 2010 by Tracy in Reviews | 11 Comments

Victor Bayne honed his dubious psychic skills at one of the first psych training facilities in the country, Heliotrope Station, otherwise known as Camp Hell to the psychics who’ve been guests behind its razorwire fence.

Vic discovered that none of the people he remembers from Camp Hell can be found online, and there’s no mention of Heliotrope Station itself, either. Someone’s gone through a lot of trouble to bury the past. But who?
This is book 5 in the Psycop series. In books 1-4 we heard various references to Heliotrope Station aka Camp Hell – the facility that Vic and other psychs “trained” at – and every time Vic recollected anything in his life from that period of time he broke out in a sweat. It was not a time to be thought of fondly.
In this book we find that Vic has decided to face his fears and look into Camp Hell and the people he was there with via the internet, only he can’t find anything. There’s nothing to be found at all: nothing about the fellow psychs he was there with, nothing about the place itself – and rating 10 on the uber-weird scale…nothing on himself. It doesn’t matter where he looks on the internet there is absolutely no information about him. Needless to say this freaks our already somewhat paranoid main character right the hell out. He wants to find out who is hiding him in plain sight and find out why they’re doing it.
After using his psych friend Lisa to gain information about who can help him acquire information he heads to his old partner, and the man who tried to kidnap him for his own gain, Roger Burke. Burke attempts to coerce Vic into recanting his statement so that he can get out of prison and if Vic agrees he’ll give him any info he has on Camp Hell. Why does Burke have this information? He used to work for the FPMP – the Federal Pararnomal Monitoring Program. The same people who seem to be following Vic around wherever he goes. When Vic realizes that he’s being followed and checked in on on a regular basis, he’s suddenly afraid to talk to Jacob in their own home or use his cell phone.
But as much as he wants to stay away and hide from the FPMP they’re right there, invading every nook and cranny of Vic’s life. Vic has some incredibly hard decisions to make about how exactly he wants to live his life and how the FPMP will fit into it…or not. Along with this craziness he finds his old lover from Camp Hell who is a hypnotist. Stefan helps Vic in some regression therapy and Vic starts remembering some things about events at Camp Hell.
I can tell you that I’ve been on an absolute binge of the Psycop books in the past couple of weeks. I was really mad at the end of this book! Was it because it sucked? Absolutely not. It was because it was the last one I could dive into! lol
Camp Hell, as well as all of the other books in this series, are just incredibly good reads. Ms. Price has such a wonderful way of pulling you into the story and not letting go. The world she built is much like the one we currently live in but it’s got the added knowledge that psychics of all sorts do exist. The books are incredibly humorous and I found myself laughing through many different parts of the book. The books aren’t comedies though – they are considered horror but I never thought that anything was so gruesome that I couldn’t read it. Yes, dead people/ghosts are described but it was all ok for me.
Along with the humor and the horror we have the relationship between Vic and his boyfriend Jacob that has been growing, moving and changing since book 1. I gotta tell you I love those two together. They just work. Are either one of them perfect? No way, but even when they have trying times in their relationship they work it out and it just makes my crazy romantic heart do the happy dance. Such a great romance I can’t even put it into words. Oh, and the sex. Beyond a doubt some of the hottest sex scenes I’ve ever read. These boys pull no punches and I fuckin loved it.
If you haven’t figured it out yet, I loved Camp Hell…as well as all the other books. I could babble and gush til I’m blue but I’m just gonna say: read the books. Seriously. If you haven’t already read them go get them now and devour them. It will be so worth your time.
Rating: 5 out of 5


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Tuesday Teaser – Secrets

Posted August 24, 2010 by Tracy in Reviews | 10 Comments

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
  • Grab your current read
  • Open to a random page
  • Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
  • BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
  • Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
Today’s Teaser comes from Secrets (book 4 in the Psycop series) by Jordan Castillo Price page 68:
I shielded my face with my hands.  I wasn’t sure which way the blood spray from a crushed head would go, but I didn’t want it to hit me in the eye.


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