Tag: Kay Stockham

Year of the Category Review: Her Best Friend’s Brother by Kay Stockham

Posted September 29, 2009 by Tracy in Discussions | 8 Comments

They had one night. That’s all Shelby Brookes would allow herself to indulge in with Luke Tulane. Yes, he’s gorgeous. And yes, he’s the greatest guy she knows, but he’s her best friend’s brother, for crying out loud! She’s pretty sure there are rules against sleeping with friends’ brothers.

Then Shelby discovers she’s pregnant. And Luke’s determined to do the right thing—down to the bended-knee proposal and the meeting at the altar. As tempting as his offer is, Shelby’s convinced she’s not the marrying kind. She’s bound to hurt him, and that’s definitely against the rules of friendship. Still, she doesn’t count on how persuasive Luke can be when he really wants something…her.

Yes, as the blurb said, Shelby finds out she’s preggo by Luke. She thought she could never get pregnant so she told him at the time that she had the birth control taken care of. Now in this day and age why a man wouldn’t use a condom anyway is beyond me, but I guess that’s just me. Anyway, when Luke finds out about the pregnancy he is ready to step up to the plate. He’s been more than half in love with Shelby for years and to him it’s the next logical step. Not to Shelby. She wants nothing from him – and I mean nothing. She basically says she doesn’t even want him in the baby’s life and he should just go about his business. He’s appalled and even threatens legal action if she tries to keep him from his child. Eventually Shelby gives in and marries Luke but she’s certainly not happy about it.

You see Shelby comes from a broken home. Her parents love each other but have married and divorced 5 times. There have been reasons for each break up and reunion but Shelby’s had to live through all the fights and everything else. When she finds out even more about her family history she’s set on believing that even though she’s marrying Luke it can’t possibly work and the only reason he wants her is to be with the baby.

Things are tough for both Shelby and Luke and when Shelby is in an car accident she crawls even farther into her own shell and tries to push everyone away.

This was a good book but I had serious problems liking Shelby. I’m the first person on earth to say that two people should not get married just because they’re pregnant but with Luke in love with Shelby I could kind of see things from his point of view. Shelby was just a bitch. Yes, she had issues with her mother, her father, their relationship, her own self-esteem issues and so much more but she was just mean to Luke. She said some horrible things to him and at times I wanted to crawl through the pages and give her a big ole slap!

I liked Luke a lot in this book and he was just a decent man who could see his own faults – and even some he saw but didn’t really have. He really stood by Shelby until he just couldn’t take it any longer…and man he took a lot. At times toward the end of the book I was thinking – run, Luke, run! But that wouldn’t have been a romance, now would it? lol

Despite the issues with Shelby I thought it was a pretty good book. I really like Kay Stockham’s work and will definitely be reading the next book in the series (that I think just came out).

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

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What I Read Last Week

Posted September 28, 2009 by Tracy in Reviews | 3 Comments

Hi folks – it’s already Monday again and I’m behind – as is my usual lately. Today I woke with the migraine from hell. It’s abated somewhat with meds but it’s damned hard to sit here so I’ll be quick.

Saturday I got together with the So Cal Blogger in Pasadena and let me just say how much I love those women! They are so great and it’s just sheer unadulterated heaven to talk to them for hours on end! I have a picture of us but at this moment I’m in too much pain to download the pictures. Besides the camera is in the other room and that’s just too damned far for me right now. 🙂 I’ll post them soon.

So what I read:

I started off with One Week as Lovers by Victoria Dahl. I read this fab review at The Book Smugglers and decided to buy it. It was really good and I liked it a lot. I’d only read one of Dahl’s books before and it was a contemporary but I have to say I liked her historical work just as much. 4.25 out of 5


Next up was Set the Dark on Fire by Jill Sorenson. Another great romantic suspense novel by Jill. I really like her books. My review is here. 4.25 out fo 5


My next read was What A Dragon Should Know by G.A. Aiken. This is book 3 in the series and I liked it just as much as the first 2. It covered Gwenvael’s relationship with Dagmar as well as catching us up on all of the rest of the dragon siblings. It moved around a lot but it flowed very nicely. Good series…I love the humor, sex, romance and fighting that goes on. 4.25 out of 5


I covered my Year of the Category Challenge read and my Tracy’s TBR Challenge read all in one book by reading Her Best Friend’s Brother by Kay Stockham. I’ve had the book for a while and had been meaning to read it but never got around to it. I decided to read it for my YOTC Challenge so that made me the multi-tasker of the day. lol I’ll post my review of it tomorrow.


Last was Bufflehead Sisters by Patricia J. Delois. A fiction book I read for The Book Binge that wasn’t a romance and was a tad bizarre. I’ll let you know when my review posts.

That’s it for the week. I hope you had a great reading week as well.

FYI – my review for Beyond the Rain by Jess Granger posted at The Book Binge this past week – you can read it here.

Happy Reading!

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What I’ve Been Reading This Week

Posted October 19, 2008 by Tracy in Features | 10 Comments

Hey there, all! Not much going on in the life and times of Tracy this week. That’s a good thing. No drama mamma! Just the way I like it!

So on to what I read:

First up was A Highlander Never Surrenders by Paula Quinn . As much as I’ve liked all of her books I think the last two she’s done have been my fav (the other one being Laird of the Mist). This was great. I really liked Graham and Claire together and loved how the whole story panned out. Good read.

Next up was Loving Lies by Lora Leigh. This one was ok. Slade has loved Jessie forever but he is taken away from her by his secret job. She has suffered for 5 years and now he’s back to claim her. Slade was an ok guy but there were a few things about him that bugged me…as well as a few that bugged me about Jessie. I actually ended up being more interested in one of the secondary characters but apparently his book hasn’t been written yet. I’ll just have to wait and see if it ever is! 🙂

His Son’s Teacher by Kay Stockham was next. The review for this book is below a couple of posts. Sweet book.

Trial by Fire by Jo Davis was a good book. I liked the story and will be very interested to read about the rest of Station Five and their lives. Of course this was the book that had the heroine going down on the hero without washing first (see below post) so I’m hoping that doesn’t happen in subsequent books. lol

Mercury’s War by Lora Leigh. I know there are quite a few out there that don’t like this series for whatever reason…I’m not one of them. I love the Breeds! :0) This book was more similar IMO to the ebooks in the Breed series – before they started in print. I wasn’t thrilled with the series when it went to print just because I thought the writing lost something. I thought it came back slightly in Dawn’s Awakening but with Mercury’s War it came back full force. Those who enjoy the Breed’s will really like MW.

Last on for the week was The Cat by Jean Johnson. I have such mixed feelings about this series but yet, I keep reading them. I think it’s like I just need to know what happens but I’m not a huge fan of the writing. Ms. Johnson writes well she’s just incredibly descriptive and sometimes it just gets to be too much for me. Describing is fine – describing for 2 to 3 pages…not ok for me. But, as I said, I just keep reading them. I guess I figure this was the 5th brother and there’s only 3 more to go and then I can stop the insanity! lol Despite these mixed feelings though it was a good book – I’d still give it 3.5 stars.

Happy Reading!

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Review: His Son’s Teacher

Posted October 16, 2008 by Tracy in Reviews | 7 Comments

TITLE: His Son’s Teacher
AUTHOR: Kay Stockham
SERIES: This the second book in the Tulane’s of Tennessee series
Book 1: Another Man’s Baby

Summary:
Nick Tulane ordinarily won’t admit weakness in himself or in those he loves. But when he learns his son is about to fail in school, the single father is desperate to find a tutor. And Jennifer Rose is perfect.

In fact, Jenn might be too perfect. Nick’s starting to fall for the attractive teacher, and he can’t let that happen. Because opening up to Jenn means sharing the secret that has always made him feel like an outsider in his own family. Still, with his son showing signs of following in his footsteps, Nick can’t keep the truth hidden. But once she knows, will Jen accept him weakness and all?
The Tulane’s of TennesseeFamily ties mean everything.
She’s tempting him to hit the books.

Thoughts/Opinions:
So Nick has found out that his son is about to fail in school. Nick doesn’t want anyone finding out that his son is having issues in school because of bullies. Nick was bullied in school and he just doesn’t want his son Matt to go through what he did. Instead of summer school he decides to hire a teacher for the summer who can tutor his son and get him up to grade level.

Jennifer Rose is a 2nd grade teacher with no plans for the summer. She’s been divorced for about 8 months and in the 18 months that she’s been separated from her low-life (ok, he’s not a low-life, he’s a doctor, but he’s still an incredibly big asshole) husband she’s gained about 30 pounds.

Nick and Jenn get thrown together by Jenn’s friend Suzanne and they make a deal. Jenn will tutor Matt for the price of a gym membership (Nick owns the gym) and a personal trainer so that Jenn can lose the weight (and go on the trip to the Caribbean that she planned to go on with her hubby, but will now go on by herself). Nick agrees and decides to do the personal training himself.

Jenn if very attracted to Nick but since she feels that she’s a 5 and he’s a 15 that there’s no chance in hell that he would ever look twice at her. Regardless Nick and Jenn are very attracted to each other and can’t seem to stay away – even though they both think there’s no hope for a future….her because he’s too hot for her and him because she’s too much of a brainiac and she wouldn’t want someone who was a dropout. There’s a bit of miscommunication with the two when she says they’re not compatible…Nick automatically assumes it’s because he’s a high school dropout with only a Sophomore education. Nick doesn’t want anyone, including his son to know that he was a dropout. There’s another secret that Nick has but I won’t spill the beans.

I really liked this book. There were more than a few things going on but it flowed nicely. Nick has issues because of his past and is not on good terms with his family – especially his father because of it. Jenn has issues with her weight and self confidence because of her ex-husband but also from her sister and father. They both had to work through their issues but they did it mostly together, which I liked.

Also there was the whole problem of the boy, Matt, and why he wasn’t able to read better. When Jenn would ask him things he was quick with the answer, but when he had to look at the book/paper he had problems. Having to try to figure how to fix it was a difficult one but it was nicely done. The fixing however brought on a whole new set of problems…again, I won’t spill the beans.

Overall I thought it was fun read. I enjoyed the first book in this series – even though it was a little on the staid side – but I liked the secondary characters and wanted to read more about the family.

Was the author new to you and would you read something by this author again?
No, I’d read the first book in the series. I will more than likely continue to read the series.

Are you keeping it or passing it on?
It’s an ebook so I’ll keep it – easy storage! J

Did you enjoy the book? Yes

Would you recommend this book to others? Yes
SCORE: 3.75 out of 5

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Review: Anthology – The Power of Love

Posted June 28, 2008 by Holly in News, Reviews | 3 Comments

Review: Anthology – The Power of LoveReviewer: Holly
The Power of Love by Lori Foster, Erin McCarthy, Toni Blake, Dianne Castell, Karen Kelley, Rosemary Laurey, Janice Maynard, LuAnn McLane, Lucy Monroe, Patricia Sargeant, Kay Stockham, J.C. Wilder
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: June 3rd 2008
Genres: Fiction, Anthologies (multiple authors)
Pages: 320
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-stars

Twelve all-new stories of women's resilience, empowerment, and fulfillment, by bestselling and award-winning authors.
In this engaging anthology of never-before published stories, twelve authors are united by their unique visions of the female experience. A young woman is torn between the security of her fiancé and the excitement of an old flame; a desperate wife is forced into the workplace for the first time in her life; an ambitious professional woman finally finds the courage to take control of her career; and her man; an emotionally fragile divorcee finds resolve in the ethereal visitations of an archangel...
These are just some of the women who discover and rediscover their own wonderfully fallible but ultimately strong selves in the shadow of love, romantic love, platonic love, new love, and lost love. Readers will be touched, inspired, charmed, and entertained by these original stories of disparate longings, unsettled lives, and the power of love.
Includes 12 stories by New York Times Bestselling Author Lori Foster and Erin McCarthy, Toni Blake, Dianne Castell, Karen Kelley, Rosemary Laurey, Janice Maynard, LuAnn McLane, Lucy Monroe, Patricia Sargeant, Kay Stockham, and J.C. Wilder.
A PORTION OF THE PROCEEDS FROM THE POWER OF LOVE GOES TO THE BATTERED WOMEN’S SHELTER OF CINCINNATI
 

 

This is the book I blogged about here. It’s a collection of short stories by 12 authors dedicated to raising money for domestic violence prevention. I was pleasantly surprised by this collection. Although I enjoy most of these authors, I didn’t expect anything great from these stories, because they’re so short. 20-40 pages doesn’t seem like much, but these authors managed to utilize the content and deliver wonderful stories.

These never before published stories offer something for every reader. Friends to lovers, love late in life, lovers reunited. I was impressed with the quality of writing, especially from authors I hadn’t tried before. A woman is reunited with her old high school flame, a widowed grandmother finds love again in her neighbor’s father, a man finally convinces his best friend they should be together. Although I enjoyed some better than others, I wasn’t disappointed by any of them. I laughed out loud a few times and even got misty eyed.

Do yourselves a favor and pick this up. Not only is it for a good cause, but it’s perfect for light summer reading at the pool or beach.

I’m not going to grade each individual story, but overall I give the collection:

4.25 out of 5

This book is available from Berkley Trade. You can buy it here.

four-stars

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