Tag: Katie Lane

What I Read Last Week

Posted December 17, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 5 Comments

Well it’s Monday again and only 8 more days til Christmas. Wow. I can’t believe it’s that close. No, I’m nowhere near ready, as is usual. I never know how I get it all done but I always do. So do you shop in advance or are you like me and get it all done at the last minute?

This is the last week of school for my kids before a 3 week Christmas break. I have no idea why they get such a long damned break but it will be interesting this year. I’m off the week between Christmas and New Year, which I’ve never done before so that will be nice. But the rest of the time I have no idea what I’ll do with them! lol They need entertaining, ya know? Otherwise they get into trouble. 🙂

I don’t think my mom has announced this yet but it’s a big freaking deal in my life as well…my mom is retiring at the end of the year (which I’ve known for a while now) but what I just found out a couple of months ago is that my parents are moving to Tennessee next month!!!! I’m so excited for them but so very sad for me. That sounds selfish, I know, but besides college I’ve never lived more than an hour from my parents…ever. Now they’re gonna be about 2,000 miles and 31 hours away! Arrrrrg. I don’t know what I’ll do without seeing them all the time! I guess I’ll have to plan a long vacation and go visit. sigh

Anyway, on to what I read last week: 

I started off the week with Maya Banks’ In Bed With a Highlander. The story is about Mairin who is kidnapped from a convent where she’s been hiding. Those who want her dowry and know who she really is. She escapes from the evil guy and makes it to the home of a boy she has been protecting. She ends up marrying the boys father, Ewan, but it’s a rocky road for them. This was such a great story. I really loved Ewan and his brothers and while I had originally given the story a 4 star rating I had to up that to 4.5 out of 5. The more I thought about it the more I loved it. :0) I’m now impatiently waiting for my turn at the library for the ebook so I can read book 2!

Next up was my Tracy’s TBR challenge read for the week and it was Finding Chrissten by NJ Walters. This is a story about a half human, half shapeshifter who has been in captivity with a psycho for the past 18 months. Her brothers and a group of their friends have been unable to find her until now. They rescue her but she needs time to heal. She was mated against her will while in captivity and the man who is her mate isn’t gonna let her get away. Then there’s one of her brothers’ friends, Hank, who has been drawn to Chrissten since the moment he caught her scent. They both have a strange attraction to one another and feel at peace when they are with each other. But can they keep away from the evil mate? This was a good story. I really liked Hank and his ability to tread lightly when it came to Chrissten. I did think that for all she’d been through the story went too fast but maybe that was me. These are shapeshifters and obviously think differently than I do. I did like the writing in this one a great deal so will look for more books by this author. 3.5 out of 5

Next was Trouble in Texas by Katie Lane. The story is about a 37 year old librarian who the town thinks is an old maid, but she isn’t. Just cuz she doesn’t want to get married and doesn’t dress in a flashy way doesn’t maker her an old maid. She DOES own a house that use to be the most famous house of ill repute in Texas but she wants to unload that and find somewhere else for the hens who still live there to live. She didn’t plan on the hens shooting and then handcuffing Brant Cates to the bed – or for him and his brother, Beau, to buy the house. You can read my review here at Book Binge. 3.25 out of 5

Next up was Deck the Halls With Love by Lorraine Heath. This is a novella having to do with the Lost Lords of Pembrook. The story is about Chetwyn and his love for a woman that he never wanted to let go of but felt he had to. It’s a very good story and one I really enjoyed. My review will post tomorrow.

Trick of Time by JL Merrow is a book that doesn’t come out til late next month but I couldn’t wait to read it. I love Merrow’s work and of course love time travel so there ya go. This story is about a man who heads back to the late 1800’s and meets a rent boy who he falls in love with. I really liked the story a lot – the setting, the characters, just about everything. Good stuff. I’ll post my review next month. 4 out of 5

Aftershock by Jill Sorenson was a great story about people who are trapped in an underpass after a 8.5 magnitude earthquake. They’re not only stuck in the pass and wonder how they will survive if not rescued by also there was a prison transport and not all the passengers died. You can read my review here. Good book! 4 out of 5

Mommy Midwife by Cassie Miles is the story of midwife Olivia living in the mountains outside of Denver. She gets pregnant and while the father of the baby, Troy, wants to marry her she knows that’s not smart as they’re not in love. When someone starts stalking her Troy takes over her protection but who they think is the stalker may not be the right one. This was a cute story. Olivia bugged me a bit at times but I really liked Troy a lot. 3 out of 5

Ready to Run by Kinsey W. Holley was the story of a girl who from a small town who has really never thought about moving to a big city. She meets Nash but Nash isn’t really who she thinks he is. He’s a werewolf and he’s there to investigate her family. He protects her when her uncle sells her to Euro-werewolves and takes her to Houston. The story was good and the romance nice – I just wanted more of an HEA than I got. 3.5 out of 5

Highland Moonlight by Teresa J. Reasor was my TBR Challenge read for December. Not a holiday themed story but they do have a Christmastide party in the story – does that count? I’ll post my review on Wednesday.

Last for the week was Lord Stillwell’s Excellent Engagements by Victoria Alexander. This novella tells us of Lord Stillwell’s 3 engagements and how they didn’t work out for him. I’ll post a mini review of this soon. 4.5 out of 5

 

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week: 

Courting Carolina by Janet Chapman 
Trouble in Texas by Katie Lane

Happy Reading!

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Guest Review: Trouble in Texas by Katie Lane

Posted December 13, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Tracy’s review of Trouble in Texas (Deep in the Heart of Texas #4) by Katie Lane

Inheriting the most notorious house of ill repute in Texas can spell trouble for a girl’s reputation . . . especially when she’s Elizabeth Murphy, Bramble’s prim and proper librarian. Yet when she discovers a buck-naked cowboy handcuffed to a four-poster bed, she forgets all about the town gossips. Elizabeth has sworn off men, but the stranger’s kisses melt her resolve faster than ice cream on a hot summer day.

Waking up in Miss Hattie’s Henhouse isn’t how Brant Cates reckoned on getting to the bottom of his great-granddaddy’s murder. The plan was to solve the centuries-old crime, then get the heck out of Dodge. But after meeting Elizabeth and discovering that the buttoned-up beauty is a sexy siren in disguise, he just can’t pull himself away.

Now Brant needs Elizabeth to finally put his past to rest, but is she willing to risk her future on Bramble’s newest bad boy?

Elizabeth is a staid 37 year old librarian in Bramble, Texas. She inherited one of the most notorious henhouses in Texas, Miss Hattie’s, and wants no one to know that she’s even associated with it. She’s selling it and that’s all there is to it. Unfortunately the 3 older “hens” that live there don’t want that and try everything they can to talk her out of it.

When Brant is on his way to his brother Billy’s wedding he stops by the Miss Hattie’s. He’s looking for answers in the death of his grandfather and thinks he might find them there. What he finds is 3 old hens who end up shooting him and handcuffing him to a bed.

Brant manages to get loose and things get ironed out but when Brant meets Elizabeth he can’t stop thinking about her. He isn’t looking for love because he thinks he’s cursed but that doesn’t stop him from making friends with Elizabeth – friends with benefits.

This story takes place mostly at Miss Hattie’s which is about an hour from Bramble where most of this series has taken place. In one instance it was nice to take a break from Bramble but on the other I kind of missed all the townfolk. Yes, there was some interaction with them, but not all that much.

The romance between Brant and Elizabeth is mostly focused on their sex life. Yes, there were other parts too but it was mostly bedroom antics. Brant was kind of all locked up in himself and Elizabeth was trying to find out who she was – when she thought she already knew.

The secondary characters – the hens, Minnie, Sunshine, Baby & Starlet were all pretty great, as was Brant’s brother, Beau. He had a charm about him that just wouldn’t quit. I think that these characters really carried the book as a whole.

Overall it was a cute book but not the strongest link in the series. A nice, quick read.

Rating: 3.25 out of 5

You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This book is available from Forever Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

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Review: Catch Me A Cowboy by Katie Lane

Posted April 12, 2012 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Shirlene Dalton has it all: a dream marriage to a man who spoils her rotten and the most outrageous mansion Bramble, Texas, has ever seen. But when her husband unexpectedly dies, Shirlene finds herself right back where she started-in a rundown trailer on the wrong side of the tracks. Never the type to let a little bad luck and a whole heap of heartache get her down, Shirlene is ready to prove to the local gossips she can make it on her own… until she ends up living next door to the most tempting cowboy in town. 

Billy Wilkes has a score to settle and a plan to wipe Bramble right off the map. But when his sexy, redheaded neighbor figures out what he’s up to, his good ol’ boy charm won’t be enough to save him. With the town on his tail, Billy will have to come clean quick — or kiss Shirlene goodbye.

Shirlene has been evicted from her mansion. She just is horrible with money and instead of getting help after her husband died of a heart attack she just shopped til she dropped. A lot of good it did her now that the bank has taken everything. She heads off to the trailer that she grew up in but discovers a family of runaways living there. She’s always wanted kids but truly she doesn’t have a clue what to do with them.

Enter Billy Wilkes. Billy kind of lives in the trailer next door. He basically uses it when he comes to town for hunting and fishing but that’s not all he does in Bramble. He tries to help Shirlene but he doesn’t want to get too close to the woman that he believes is a conniving gold digger.

As the story goes on Shirlene tries to find a way to feed herself as well as the four urchins she’s taken under her wing and tries to get her house back. But in the process of all of that happening she really takes a hard look at who she is and what she wants out of life.

Billy sees a different side of Shirlene than he even thought existed and it really turns his world upside down. She’s not the person he thought she was and he kind of likes the town of Bramble. His revenge plans might have to take a back burner but his brothers aren’t too thrilled with his change of heart.

This story continues about 9 months after the last book left off. Shirlene was depressed over her husband’s death and since she’s never had to deal with money besides spending it she just ignored the very real evidence that things weren’t peach keen. When she’s put out on the street with just the clothes on her back she’s just sure that she can make everything right with her charm but that doesn’t get her very far. I can’t say I loved that fact that she was trying to use what is described as her rockin body to try and get men to do what she wanted but in her defense it had always worked before – why wouldn’t it work when she’s in desperate need? The last person she actually wants to work her magic on is Billy Wilkes and he’s the one that can’t stop thinking about her.

Billy is portrayed, at first, as a dumb hillbilly. He’s actually a wealthy man and wants revenge on Bramble for something that happened to his great-great-grandfather. But history isn’t always completely accurate and what he thinks happened may not have happened the way he thought. Besides getting a different view of Bramble he really gets an inner look at Shirlene. She’s got nothing but she’s doing her all to keep the kids that took over her trailer in food and clothing. I liked that Billy got to see her for who she was – or at least could be – down deep.

The book had some slow parts but also had some great humor and hot sex scenes as well. Billy and Shirlene were great together and that made the story fly by most of the time. There were a few parts of the story that to me, were a bit ridiculous and unrealistic but overall it was pretty darned good.

Rating: 3.75/4.0 out of 5
(yeah, I couldn’t make up my mind about the rating so it kind of fell in the middle)

Katie Lane

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What I Read Last Week

Posted April 9, 2012 by Tracy in Features | 11 Comments

Howdoo!

How are you all? I certainly hope you had a great week last week. Mine was damned busy but then I got 4 days off so I’ve had time to recover. I took today off as I knew I’d be busy with family yesterday for Easter. The girls had a great time at church yesterday and hunting for eggs after. They never get too old for that, do they? Lol

Oh – and fyi – my non mechanical hubby made me proud, hooked up the water in the fridge and now I have water and ice – yay!!!  

Not much else to say so I’ll get right to what I read…

I started off the week with a book that I read for The Book Binge called Romancing Olive by Holly Bush. This is a western historical which normally isn’t one of my go-to locations/times but the blurb sounded intriguing enough that I decided to go for it. I was glad I did. Puckered up 35 year old spinster Olive heads from Philadelphia to Ohio to get her niece and nephew after her brother and his wife are killed. What she finds when she gets there is pretty shocking and the kids have no desire whatsoever to go with Olive…ever. The kids were taken in by a neighbor, Jacob (age 25) and his three kids. Jacob offers a place for Olive to stay while she gets to know the kids until they are comfortable with her enough to head back to her home. They story follows Olive’s discovery of life and love and it’s a pretty darned good book. You can read more review here. 3.75 out of 5

Next up was Born to Darkness by Suzanne Brockmann. The first in the Fighting Destiny series. It takes place in the not too distant future but the world has changed dramatically. You can read my review here. 3.75 out of 5

Next up was The Duke’s Perfect Wife by Jennifer Ashley. Another one I read for The Book Binge and it was wonderful. This is Hart’s story and reunites him with his first love, Eleanor, who is a calming force in Hart’s uber-controlled world. It was a great love story and really showed a great side of Hart that we hadn’t seen before. Good stuff. 4.75 out of 5

Having Faith by Nancy O’Berry is the first novella in the Sweetbrier series and was my Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week. The series is about a place that is basically a high class brothel but the girls are educated and looking for protectors – the 3 books cover the “best” 3 girls. This story was about Faith and how she is up for grabs in a poker game – for the night with the option to continue the relationship long term. She really is hoping that one man will win her as she really likes him. The book, to me, was completely unrealistic. The way the story is set up really made me feel that Faith was completely snobby except when she was with Thaddeus, the man she hopes will win her. I know it’s a high class place but I felt like I was in the middle of a girls finishing school than a brothel. While the second half of the book was better it still was just an ok read for me. 2 out of 5

College Boys by Daisy Harris was my next read. This is set at Holsum College and has Chris finding out a huge fact about himself that he’s never known before – he’s gay. I’ll post my review this week.

Whitetail Rock by Anne Tenino is a free read on Goodreads and was great. The story is about a guy going home from graduate school for his break and meeting a butch cop. Despite the fact that Nik tries to get under Jurgen’s skin, Jurgen doesn’t give up pursuing Nik. It was a great story and definitely worth the read. 4 out of 5

Last for the week was Catch Me A Cowboy by Katie Lane. This is book 3 in the Deep in the Heart of Texas series. I did read book 2 but was a little lost because I hadn’t read book 1. This was better as I knew background and pretty much knew most of the characters going in. I’ll post my review later this week.

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Romancing Olive by Holly Bush

Happy Reading!

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What I Read Last Week

Posted June 20, 2011 by Tracy in Features | 11 Comments

Bore da (pronounced Bore-ray dar aka Good Morning in Welsh)
How the heck are ya? Doing well I hope!
This week was an interesting/smell & disgusting one at work as a baby skunk got into one of the buildings at work and stunk up the place. OMG those things smell vile. I mean, I’ve passed areas while in my car that were smelly because of a skunk but I’ve never smelled one up close and personally. Yuk. I stayed in my office but my boss got sprayed and then walked into the office – gross! Needless to say we had to call in professionals and we still have residual smell.
Father’s day was nice as we had my parents, brother and his family, my niece and her boyfriend over for lunch. We also had my sister Ann who lives in Alabama come over since she is on a business trip in San Diego. She totally surprised my parents on Sunday morning at church and my girls were equally surprised. It was just a fun day.
I had a good reading week as well which was nice!
I started off with Make Mine a Bad Boy by Katie Lane. This was a pretty cute book but I had some issues with it. You can read my review here on The Book Binge if you’re interested. 3.25 out of 5
Next up was 911 by Chris Owen that I read for my TBR Challenge for the month. It was a good m/m/m book that I enjoyed. You can read my review here. 3.5 out of 5
This Perfect Kiss by Melody Thomas was an impulse request through Netgalley and I’m so glad that I got it. It was a great story (it releases on 6/28) about a girl of “almost” 18 who is infatuated with a man in the Royal Navy. Cut to 9 years later – both have been married and their spouses have died and they have both lived through many things. They fall back in love but the book is about so much more than that. I’ll be posting my review this week.
My next read was Warcry by Elizabeth Vaughan. This is book 4 in the Chronicles of the Warlands and it was a good one. Be warned – this is not a stand alone novel so if you’re interested you need to start from book 1. This is the continuing story of the blending of the Plains people and the Xyians and has a lot of Lara and Keir in the story…but the story is told more from Heath and Atira’s viewpoints. You can read my review here on The Book Binge is you’d like. 4.5 out of 5
Infinity Pools by LA Witt is book 2 in the Changing Plans series and it was great. The story continues almost immediately from where book 1 ends and tells us about Elliot and Derek and their adventures together. I loved seeing the two men come together although I would have loved to have been in Derek’s head to see what he was thinking. Despite that it was a great book and I’m becoming a huge Witt fan. 4.5 out of 5
Visible Friend by KZ Snow was my next read and it was also great. The story centers around Chris who has been a drug addict for 9 years. He’s now out of recovery and trying to deal with life, staying away from drugs and those old friends who still do drugs and wanting to be with a man. He thinks he starts something with a man from a support group but that’s not what he thought. He also is dealing with a man who he thought was his invisible friend when he was young but now the boy is all grown up and appearing in front of him. This was a really great book and had all the wonderful writing that KZ puts into all of her stories. It was very emotional and I felt for Chris so much with his struggles. 4 out of 5
Last for the week was Undercover by Lauren Dane. This is my first read by Dane even though I have this entire series and the Cascadia wolves series – strange, I know. Anyway the story focuses on Sera who works for the Federation military. She is assigned to work with a covert ops team that includes the man that she was in love with 10 years prior but he ended up marrying someone else. The book has the two men, Brandt and Ash, working with Sera as well as sleeping with her and they all fall in love. I liked the story and the sex was hot but I found my attention waning at times during the story. I will definitely be reading the next book in this series though to see what happens next. 3.25 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that have posted since last Monday
Happy Reading!

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