Reminder: The giveaway is still open to win a copy of It Happened on Maple Street by Tara Taylor Quinn. Contest open until Friday, May 6th at 7:00pm pacific. Comment here to enter.
I started off the week with a read for The Book Binge called The Perfect Family by Kathryn Shay. This is the story of a 16/17 year old boy who comes out and the effect it has on his friendships, his relationship with his brother and father, the upheaval it causes in his parents’ marriage – basically his entire life. A really good read. You can read my review here. Also, Lori wrote an incredible review and you can read it here. 4 out of 5
On of my Tracy’s TBR Challenge reads for the week was a short called The Pleasure Cruise by Raven Starr. This was the story of a woman who goes on a cruise to relax and ends up meeting a great guy. He ended up being a great guy but when he is first described I thought yuk. He sounded smarmy and seriously, I thought it was a joke and the heroine was going to be saved from the smarmy guy by the hero. Yeah, the hero was the smarmy guy. lol Only in the end he wasn’t bad – he apparently just dressed badly, imho. This was an erotic read so there was sex from the get go. Not a bad story, but for me, just ok. 2 out of 5
Another Tracy’s TBR Challenge read was The Sixth Cursed Halloween by Mechele Armstrong. This was the continuing story of Deidre who was cursed and moves from tree to bush to plant until the tree/plant/bush is cut down or dies then she moves to the next one. She has been cursed for hundreds of years and has been in a bonsai tree owned by Brad for the past 15 years. On Halloween one year Deidre realizes that she and Brad can actually communicate telepathically – but only that one day a year. Brad is determined to break Deidre’s curse but many years pass with no luck. During this time Deidre realizes that not all men are like the one who cursed her and Brad starts falling in love with someone he might never see in person. It was a cute story and much better than the previous books where I didn’t care for Deidre at all. 3.5 out of 5
Next up was Awaken the Highland Warrior by Anita Clenney. The story was about a demon fighting warrior clan that’s been around forever. One of their warriors, Faelan, gets put into a time vault for 150 years and is set free by Bree who thinks she’s treasure hunting. Faelan isn’t sure whether to trust Bree and vise versa. I thought it was a great book and I’m looking forward to the next in the series. You can read my review at The Book Binge, here 4.25 out of 5
Rougaroux Social Club: Bayou Dreams by Lynn Lorenz was my next read. This is the story of Sheriff Scott Dupree who is a werewolf. He finds his mate but has a seriously hard time coming to terms with who the mate is: a man. That man, Ted, is not thrilled with having all of these feelings toward a straight man as he’s been hurt in the past by falling in love with his ex-partner. Scott’s not sure if he wants to claim his mate and what the ramifications in his life and pack will be. It was an interesting story that had quite a few bits in it that I could have done without. At the beginning there’s a detective following Ted, who is an ex-cop, because he’s “watching” Ted to see if he’s a bad guy, but then nothing ever is mentioned of it again. Why? IDK. While not a bad book I found parts of it quite comical and funny when I don’t think they were intended to be. 🙂 3 out of 5
Kitsune Wedding by Tracy Rowan was my next read. This about a warrior who has left his master and feels he has nothing to live for. A Kitsune talks him into going to a new master as well as becoming his husband but the warrior has no idea that the fox is a man when in human form. They continue their marriage but years later the warrior sees his husband with another man. While he thought that he was a good husband the warrior wouldn’t admit his feelings for his husband. When he sees him with another man, however, he is devastated. I won’t tell you more about if they work it out but I liked the story. I was unsure of the story because of the possibility of infidelity but I thought it was very cute and a nice short fantasy read. 3 out of 5
My next read was Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart by Sarah MacLean. A great book. I really loved both the hero and the heroine in this one even though I wanted to slap the hero a time or two. The story is about an Italian woman trying to fit in with the London Ton (and not doing a very good job at it) and the stuffy Duke she wants to thaw. You can read my review here. 4.5 out of 5
The Time Weaver by Shana Abe was the continuing story of the Drakon. The stories are about dragon shapeshifters living in historical times. Honor is taken from her home when she is just 14 and raised by a fellow drakon in order to save her life. Because Honor grows into her powers and is a time weaver she receives notes from herself telling her things she should do or not do. It was a good book but jumping back and forth through time, knowing how Honor was in the previous book, having chapters that gave stuff away all made the book an…uncomfortable read if that makes sense. I was on edge while reading it and I found myself putting the book down several times to try and calm myself down and relax. I hate being on edge while reading! lol 3.5/3.75 out of 5
Secrets by Brenda Joyce was my next read. This was an amnesia story that while good was a book that I had quite a few issues with. I haven’t read the previous books in the Bragg Saga but it didn’t matter in this one – I really didn’t need to read those other books. Regina Shelton is on a train in California in 1899 when it is robbed by bandits. Rather than give them her jewelry…or her body, she jumps from the train. When she is found she has amnesia, is thought to be Elizabeth Sinclair and is taken to the home of her now dead fiancé. She ends up falling for brother #2, Slade, who is dark and brooding and though he starts to have feelings for Elizabeth won’t act on them because of honor and the fact that his brother loved her and now can’t be with her. They do end up marrying just to save his rancho because she is an heiress, but he ends up taking off the day after the wedding with no intention of returning. I had issues with both the hero and the heroine but really the story just kind of fell short for me. I just wasn’t as emotionally involved as I thought I should be and I ended the book with the thought “well that should have been better.” Not a good thought to have after 416 pages! This is another one I read for The Book Binge. 3 out of 5
And last for the week was book 10 in the Rough Riders series by Lorelei James. This was Jessie and Brandt’s story and it was a good one. Jessie was married to Luke who was a philanderer and cheated on Jessie constantly. It’s been 2 years since Luke died and Brandt, Luke’s brother, comes to Jessie for assistance with Luke’s son who was born to one of the women that Luke had an affair with. Taking care of Landon is the last thing on earth that Jessie wants to do but she agrees anyway. Brandt moves in with Jessie so that they can help each other with the boy and they decide to take their relationship to the bedroom. This is more than fine with Brandt as he’s thought himself in love with Jessie since the day he met her. I really liked this book. I enjoy reading James’ books because she always has such a great dynamic going with not only the h/h but also the whole MacKay family (which in this family’s case was quite contentious). Good stuff. 4 out of 5
FYI – Lorelei announced that Samhaim is giving away the first book in her Rough Riders series for free the entire month of May on Kindle & Nook. If you haven’t started this series here’s your chance to do so – for free!