Tag: KT Grant

What I Read Last Week

Posted January 3, 2011 by Tracy in Features | 14 Comments

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a very nice new year.  My hubby took the girls to see the new Narnia movie and I stayed home and read. Nice! lol  I stayed up until 12 and then was asleep by 12:05. I know, I’m a party animal. 

For 2011 I’ve decided to only take on 1 challenge besides my own TBR challenge and that is Wendy’s TBR challenge.  Can you tell I’m trying to get through that sucker?  It’s needs to diminish!  The rule about posting the review on a specific date is always what fucks me up so I’ll see how it goes.

If you haven’t already gone over to DIK to enter the Grand Finale giveaway you need to do it!  Great books being given away to 2 lucky winners.  You have until the 8th at midnight to enter

The Karen Mercury book giveaway for Working the Lode is open until 1/4/11 at 11:59pm (pacific).

Life is pretty boring around here so I’ll get on with telling you what I read:

I started off with The Trap by Indigo Wren.  This is a story about workaholic David who finally decides to take a vacation to an island resort.  The brochure was just too compelling and he decided to take a break for a month.  He gets there only to find out that it’s not a resort – it’s all a hoax perpetrated by his ex-best friend, Ethan, to get him alone and make him face some hard truths about himself – mainly his sexuality and lack of acceptance of what it really is.  I really liked the book a lot.  There were some times that I thought David overreacted and I wanted to smack him upside the head but overall a really good book. 4.5 out of 5

Next was The Christmas Fantasy by KT Grant.  This was a cute story about a woman who is on a mission to lose her virginity and wants it taken by her brother’s best friend who she’s been in love with forever.  He’s all for the idea but life gets in the way and the woman starts to believe the crap in her head rather than reality.  It was a light, fun read – nothing too deep and we didn’t get too into the characters but if that’s what you’re looking for in a Christmas read than it’s perfect. 🙂  3.5 out of 5

Love Letters from Ladybug Farm by Donna Ball was next.  I read this for The Book Binge and you can read my review here.  It was romance in the book but mostly the book tells about 3 women in their 50’s who run a farm and attempt to put on a society wedding.  Ok, but really not my thing. 3 out of 5

The Darkling Thrush by Josh Lanyon was my next read and a very interesting one.  It’s fantasy with a bit of romance about a man who is a book hunter and is looking for what might be a fictitious book.  Only there are very dark forces at work in the story.  The man ends up with his boss but the boss moved a bit too fast for my liking and declared himself pretty abruptly.  That being said the writing was as wonderful as always and the story incredibly engaging. 4 out of 5

Dream a Little Dream by Susan Elizabeth Phillips was the book I read for my DIK Challenge read for the month. It was a great way to end the challenge as the book was so good.  You can read my review here. 4.5 out of 5

Skin Heat by Ava Gray was next on the list. Another book read for the Book Binge.  This is book 3 in the Skin series and I really liked it. Zeke was held in the facility in the last book and was set free.  He’s now home  and is not exactly comfortable in his own skin.  He takes a job at the local vet clinic and falls in love with the vet, Neva.  It’s a great story and has a psycho killer in it as well – good stuff.  I’ll let you know when my review posts. 4 out of 5

Instant Temptation by Jill Shalvis was my next read.  This was the story of Harley and TJ who’ve circled each other for year but haven’t exactly been friends.  TJ decides that it’s time to stop the animosity – especially since he has no idea what caused it – and make his move.  I really liked this book. The story was pretty simple but I loved the honesty of the characters.  No subterfuge, no lies, just plain out telling the truth about everything. Wish I could read more of that! lol  4 out of 5

My Tracy’s TBR Challenge for the week was The Reluctant Reformer by Lynsay Sands.  The first part of the book annoyed me – he thought she was a famous prostitute and she thought he’d found out about her writing. The misunderstanding was amusing a bit but not enough to stop the annoying bit.  Now, the second part of the book was almost like a different book.  This was the man taking care of the woman but he can’t keep his hands off her and compromising her constantly.  And there was someone who tries to kill her multiple times. The second part of the book was good – the first, not to my liking.  3.5 out of 5

Last for the week was Pleasures of a Notorious Gentleman by Lorraine Heath.  This was the story of a woman who claims to be the mother of a baby and takes the babe to the father’s family – only in the hope that they’ll care for it.  When she finds out the father, Stephen, is alive she’s thrilled as she fancies herself in love with him.  But he has no idea who she is due to amnesia and him losing 2 years of his memory.  It was a pretty darned good book.  I’m not one for all the camouflage in a relationship but this one worked for me. 4.25 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted since last Monday:
No Place to Run by Maya Banks
Love Letters from Ladybug Farm by Donna Ball
Must Love Kilts by Allie Mackay
How to Marry a Duke by Vicky Dreiling
My Fair Succubi by Jill Myles

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 here.  5 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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What I Read Last Week

Posted August 16, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 10 Comments

Good morning!
It’s gonna be a good week, right? Right! Now, I’m just going to keep telling myself that! lol
My oldest daughter now has to be to school about 15 minutes earlier the elementary school where my youngest attends. That means we’re ALL getting up earlier than we used to – and let me tell you, that’s SUCKS! lol It’s bad enough that I have to give up my extra hour of sleep that I was getting during the summer months but now, an hour early? *sigh* I guess I’ll get used to it and stop complaining….eventually. J
Other than school starting not a lot happened this week so I’ll get right into what I read…
First up was Lovestruck by KT Grant. Yes, this is from our very own blogger Katiebabs! This is an f/f story about a high powered hotel owner meeting a woman who works at one of her hotels. Barbara is 10 years older than Jenny but can’t seem to stay away from her. Barbara is contemplating shutting down the hotel location that Jenny works at but doesn’t bother to let Jenny know. I gotta say that Barbara was a bit much for me. Besides the sex she really acted more motherly toward Jenny, calling her Kiddo and telling her when she’d had too much to drink. She grated on me just a tad. Jenny was immature at times but I had to admire her for working as well as trying to finish a college degree. 3.5 out of 5
Next up was Wicked Enchantment by Anya Bast that I read for The Book Binge. This is book 1 in her Dark Magic series and I really liked it. I had tried to read it a couple of times before but it seems so info heavy that I kept putting it down. Once I got past the first few chapters though I got totally into it. The story revolves around a woman in the Seelie court falling in love with a man from the Unseelie Court but she meets him in an unconventional way and under false circumstances. Now that she knows who he is she doesn’t know that she can trust him. That on top of running for their lives made for some good reading. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. 4 out of 5
After that it was Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie. I KNOW! It was very exciting to open that book, lemme tell ya. So what are my thoughts? Check back on Thursday for my review AND a giveaway!
Next up was Waking the Witch by Kelley Armstrong. This is book 11 in the Otherworld series and it was a good murder mystery. The story had Savannah, part witch/party sorcercer, taking on her first solo case. She goes to a small town to try and figure out who is killing these young girls and comes up against many roadblocks. A very good book! I read this for The Book Binge as well. 4.25 out of 5
I won a copy of Love’s Fortress by Samantha Kane over at the Kiss and Tell Girls blog – woohoo! J I love the Brothers in Arms series and this one was no different. We had Gideon who came home from the war with his face and arm burned and one of his legs amputated. Then his love/best friend Charles who helped him recover from it all. Then we have Sarah who becomes Gideon’s wife and brings the group together. Just a great story! 4.25 out of 5
My last read for the week was Scandalous by Candace Camp. This is a re-issue of her release from 1996. Priscilla answers the door one night to a naked man who asks for help and then promptly collapses. When he awakens he has no idea who he is. The story revolves around Priscilla and John (as she names him since she has to call him something) trying to find clues about who exactly kidnapped him and why. The story was really broken up into 3 sections – or at least it seemed to me. First was “John” and his quest for his memory, then there was him getting his memory back when seeing his father and all that entailed, then trying to solve a murder mystery from 30 years before. Not a bad book but it seemed quite a bit longer than it should have been, imho. I also would have liked it better if the 3 stories were intertwined a bit more. 3.25 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted this week:
Happy Reading!

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