Tag: Regina Carlysle

Guest Review: Trouble in a Stetson by Regina Carlysle

Posted September 22, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 2 Comments

Tracy’s review of Trouble in a Stetson (Sequins, Saddles & Spurs #2) by Regina Carlysle

Lola Lamont leaves Vegas with two pals, never imagining they’d break down in small-town Texas. So what’s a former showgirl to do when she runs smack dab into the hottest sheriff south of the Mason Dixon line? Why, jump his bones, of course!

Sam Campbell takes one look at the Vegas Bombshell and knows damn good and well she belongs in his bed. She probably has the words gold digger tattooed to her ass but he’s ready to take what the sexy blonde has to offer. Vowing to protect his heart, Sam rocks her world. Too bad she’s rocking his right back. Sam is more than ready to handle some sass, spunk and sex, but is he willing to gamble on love?
Lola decided, after getting canned from her job as a showgirl because she’s too old (30) and then having her fiancé break up with her, that she’s done with Vegas. Her and her two friends head out to the great beyond to have a grand adventure. The problem: they’re all broke and when the car breaks down in Texas they have no money, nowhere to stay and no way to pay for the repairs on the car. Oops.

They head into the Blue Belle Café and meet 3 lovely men. One of those men is Sam Campbell, the local Sheriff. Sam and Lola hit it off right away and when they can’t deny their attraction any longer start a red hot affair. But is it an affair, or something much stronger and longer lasting?

I really liked this story. Lola, for all her hot sexy clothes, was just a really nice person. She was raised in a trailer park and wasn’t used to having a whole lot so was satisfied with the basics. That didn’t mean that she didn’t love her clothes and shoes but if they were all gone, she’d still be happy – she was very down to earth. I really liked that about her. She also knew that she had to work for what she wanted and when faced with being stuck with no money immediately took a waitressing job at Blue Belle’s. I have to admire any woman that’s not afraid to get down and dirty.

Sam was great as well. He was a quiet cowboy which I have a fondness for. He did instantly peg-hole Lola right away as a gold digger and rich man’s arm candy based only on her looks and the way she dressed – which pissed me off, but he learned his lesson the hard way.

Overall a very cute, very hot contemporary love story.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Oh, and in case you’re looking for book 1 in this series it’s called Trouble in Cowboy Boots by Desiree Holt.

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.
You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

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What I Read Last Week

Posted September 13, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 14 Comments

Hello my fellow book lovers!

How the heck are ya?  I’m doing well.  There’s not anything to report here so I’ll get right to the books.

Actually I started the week reading a bunch of yaoi manga:
Reversible by various artists 2 out of 5 
Love Mode by Yuki Shimizu 3 out of 5 
Ka*Shin*Fu by Makoto Tateno 2 out of 5 
Golden Prince and Argent King by Kouko Agawa 3 out of 5 
Little Butterfly – Omnibus – by Hinako Takanaga 4 out of 5 

First up was Wicked Surrender by Jade Lee.  This was the story of the daughter of an actress who now ran a theatre.  She wants nothing more than to be found respectable so when the 4th son of an Earl proposes she accepts.  The problem is that she’s not accepted by his set at all and things aren’t exactly the way she expected them to be.  There’s also the problem of her having feelings for her fiance’s cousin and him constantly asking her to be his mistress.  I had some issues with the heroine of this book…and the hero at times as well but liked it for the most part.  I found out an interesting twist when I read the blurb for the next book in the series so I’ll definitely be reading that one to find out what happens. This one I read for The Book Binge.  3.5 out of 5
Next was All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins.  Ok, Higgins makes me laugh.  I really love her sense of humor.  The story was about a woman who had been in love with a guy for years.  He was now her boss and at one point had had a 5 week relationship that she thought was going somewhere.  Turned out it wasn’t quite great “timing” for her boss though.  Yeah, right.  Anyway, so she’s decided to branch out in the dating scene and starts – eventually, in a round about kind of way, to date the new town vet. That’s not before she goes on a couple of dates with men that’s she’s met on an online dating service (those were damned funny). It’s a crazy time in her life and very emotional at times but it works.  This book was funny, heart-breaking, sad and fun all rolled into one.  There were points in the book when I found it too descriptive, or the heroine would go off on a tangent in her mind and those were a bit frustrating but overall I really liked it. 4 out of 5
I read Her Laird, Her Lover by Sable Grey for The Book Binge.  This short story was about a woman who had been sent back into medieval times 3 years prior.  Her and her “mother”, the woman who had taken her in, ran cons to make money.  One such con was run on a local Laird only her secret is discovered and eventually love blooms.  I really liked this story.  Grey managed to pack a lot of good stuff into 40 some pages. 4 out of 5
After that was Holiday Outing by Astrid Amara.  I’m not sure why I’m reading Hanakkuh stories in September but whatever. lol  It was good!  Jonah is going home to visit his parents for Hanakkuh and he’s not thrilled about it.  He’s gay and a gay fiction writer but his parents know neither of these facts.  They think that he lives in Seattle and isn’t very successful.  Ethan, Jonah’s old neighbor – the guy Jonah had the hots for while growing up – and the guy who outed him and got him beat up and shoved in lockers in high school, picks Jonah up from the airport and starts flirting with him.  Huh?  The story is of Ethan and Jonah’s relationship as well as the search for a family heirloom that disappears during a blizzard and subsequent blackout.  This was a wonderful story!  I loved the mystery involved with all of Jonah’s relatives as well as the budding relationship with Ethan and Jonah.  I definitely recommend this one.  4.5 out of 5
My Tracy’s TBR challenge read for the week was Warsworn by Elizabeth Vaughan.  I read Warprize a while back and loved it.  Why it took me so long to read book 2 is beyond me.  This book followed Lara and Keir in their journey to the Plains.  The story was mostly about the Plague and how it hits their camp but also about Lara and Keir finding a better understanding and deeper love with each other.  I laughed in this one, I cried (a lot, which I never do) and I loved it.  Great book 4.5 out of 5
I had to immediately read Warlord by Elizabeth Vaughan after finishing Warsworn.  I didn’t want to wait so I picked it up and devoured it.  It was just as good as books 1 and 2 and I loved it as well.  This had Lara and Keir in the Plains and the many obstacles they had to face in order to be together.  They had to face many dissenters and it certainly wasn’t easy.  I really like Vaughan’s writing and yes, found myself crying at the end of this one as well.  How does she do that? lol  4.5 out of 5
Next up was The Promise by Brenda Joyce.  This is book 13 in the de Warrene dynasty series and it comes out on the 28th.  I don’t want to say anything about my thoughts since I’ll be reviewing it this week.  This was Elysse O’Neill and Alexi de Warrene’s story.
I read Whenever We Meet by Cerise DeLand for The Book Binge (yes, I’m trying to catch up!).  The story of a woman who is recovering from the death or her husband – even though they didn’t have a great marriage.  She goes to Mexico to design a hotel and falls in love with her client.  He wants her but is willing to wait until she’s comfortable with him.  He does have one requirement though – she has to kiss him hello whenever she enters a room that he’s in and kiss him goodbye when she leaves. Interesting concept – I liked the first part of the book since I love kissing scenes but the end didn’t really do it for me. (EC covers are not leaving much to the imagination these days are they?!) 3 out of 5
Next was another book for The Book Binge called Trouble in a Stetson by Regina Carlysle.  Lola and 2 of her friends leave Vegas for a grand adventure.  Lola was a showgirl (*sings* her name was Lola, she was a showgirl…nevermind) and got canned because she was too old – she’s 30!  Right after that her fiance breaks it off with her and Lola and her friends have had enough of Vegas.  Lola and her friends make it to Mesa Blanco, Texas when their car breaks down.  They have no money and end up staying to get the car fixed and get some money to get on their way.  Lola meets the town sheriff though and they start a relationship.  Lola was done with men but Sam just calls to her and Sam was hurt by a previous relationship/marriage and doesn’t want to get involved other than sex.  Yeah, that doesn’t work out for either one of them.  lol  This was a very cute book.  I’ve liked what I’ve read of Carlysle’s in the past and this one didn’t disappoint.  4 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted this past week:
Happy Reading!

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Guest Review: Drilled by Regina Carlysle

Posted May 22, 2010 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Tracy’s review of Drilled by Regina Carlysle

Lori Donovan accepts the Cougar Challenge and pledges to snag a hot young stud, knowing it’ll be tough once she moves back to her Texas hometown. She expects barren plains and rattlesnakes but finds hunky Jackson Blue drilling for oil on her property instead. A driller. Hmm. Lori has a few ideas about that and just about all of them involve her poor, needy, sex-starved body.

Jackson takes one look at the curvy, sexy, older woman and puts his expertise into action. After all, drilling is what he does best. Against the wall, on the floor or in the middle of her bed, he’s the right man for the job. It’s a hot time in Texas when a tough, sexy drillin’ man meets a sassy cougar, and playing it safe just isn’t an option.

Lori has moved back to the small town that she grew up in. She’s inherited not only her grandparents house but all of the money from the drilling that’s happening on the land. She’s pretty much prepared to have a quiet, sedate life now that she’s away from the big city – until she meets Jackson Blue. Jackson Blue owns the petroleum company that is drilling crude from the land. They are instantly attracted to each other but Jackson’s 10 years younger than Lori, can she really go for it? Especially since she has pretty bad self esteem issues from her divorce.

This was a very cute novella that is part of the Cougar Challenge series. Being over 40 myself I could see where Lori would be a little hesitant to take up with a man who’s 10 years younger but Lori definitely held her own when they got together. She had some doubts, but I think most people do when beginning a new relationship.

I really liked Jackson in this story. His personality was open and honest and he was just a nice man – and very hot. He didn’t give one iota about the age difference and I loved that about him.

Overall it was a cute book with some great sex scenes…oh, and some toys added in there. *waggles eyebrows*

Rating: 3.5 out of 5


You can read more from Tracy at Tracy’s Place

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

(Holly: Some of these covers kill me! OMG…)

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What I Read Last Week

Posted May 3, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 24 Comments

Hi-dee-ho Neighbors!
How are all my cyber friends today?  Behaving yourselves?  I certainly hope not! lol
Ok – update on what exciting things happened in my life this past week….***crickets chirping***…all right, moving on.
LOL  Actually nothing much happened at all this past week and that’s A-ok with me!   The hub’s good, the kids are good.  I can’t complain!
You can still get in the running for the Diana Palmer book giveaway that will run until this Saturday at 11:59pm.  Just leave a comment to enter.
Also – I posted the list of books that I read in April on my other blog.  You can go here to see it.
So – what did I read this past week?
I started off with a Quickie read for The Book Binge called Too Good To Be True by Penelope Friday.  This was a cute book with some British humor in it.  The heroine’s self-esteem was really low when I first started the book and I was slightly turned off but then I liked her so much that I enjoyed the story. About a woman whose husband left her and she meets a great looking guy in a bar – but he’s going to trial soon because he might be a criminal.  What’s a girl to do?  I’ll let you know when my review posts.

Next up was To Beguile a Beast by Elizabeth Hoyt.  I’m considering this both a Tracy’s TBR Challenge read for the week as well as an FTSP read.  I actually tried to read the first book in this series several times but couldn’t get into it for some reason.  I did read book 2 and really liked it so I’m just continuing with the series.  This is the story of Helen who has been the mistress of a Duke for many years.  She’s finally left him after being only looked at as a possession for much of that time.  She enlists the help of her friend (from the previous book) and goes with her 2 children to Alistair Munroe’s castle in Scotland to be his housekeeper.  Alistair is none too happy to see her.  He doesn’t want a damned housekeeper!  Alistair is scarred from an Indian attack and lives a quiet sequestered life.  When Helen arrives his life is turned upside down – but in a good way.  I really liked the book a lot and it was a sweet beauty and the beast story – which I love. 4.25 out of 5
Next was Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts.  This is book 3 in the Bride Quartet series.  It started off slow for me but got better.  I read this one for The Book Binge as well and will let you know when my review posts.  This was Laurel and Del’s story.

I read a lot of The Book Binge this week because I’m trying to catch myself up and…well, I have a hard time saying no! lol  Anyway, another short read for them was Sacrifice in Stone by Patricia Mason.  This was about a statue and the woman who was trying to bring it to life.  Cute.

Lover Mine by JR Ward was my next read.  This was a darned good book.  It’s so nice to have some romance back in the BDB books.  This was John Matthew and Xhex’s (pronounced Hex from what I understand) story but we also got views into Blay and Qhuinn’s relationship, more from Tohr, some info on Payne (thank heavens!) and of course the evil Lash.  There were 2 corresponding stories that were in the book as well.  One was from Darius which I really enjoyed cuz I’ve liked him from book 1 (will it ever be revealed that JM is Darius? hhmmmmm IDK) and also another story about a tv show called the Paranormal Investigators.  The PI story was a bit odd and it wasn’t revealed until the end how it connected but it did, finally, connect.  I’m not sure I cared about the connection too much or if it’s going to be used in further books but I could have done without it and been quite happy. 🙂  Anyway a good book worth reading.  4.25 out of 5
I decided that it was time to catch up on some of the m/m shorter stories and novellas that I have had on my ereader for some time.  The first was Out of My Mind by ML Rhodes.  What a great story.  Rafferty Jones and Nick Tucker have been partners in the PD for 4 years now.  They’ve been best friends practically from day 1 and have spent great amounts of time together.  Rafferty is now divorced and he’s damn happy about it, but now he’s having erotic thoughts about his partner and he’s freaking out.  He’s never had “those” kind of thoughts about a man before and he doesn’t quite know how to handle it.  After a storm where Nick almost drowns Rafferty and Nick have a great night together (oh, Nick’s gay but didn’t reveal it to Rafferty for his own reasons) things go a bit haywire and Rafferty’s confused.  I really liked this book a lot.  Rafferty in his self examination unwittingly hurts Nick and it just killed me. I seriously was feeling the guys pain and my heart hurt for him.  The only thing I think I would have liked was to see more from Rafferty during his self-examination.  We got his POV at the beginning of the book but later only Nick’s.  It was still great but that would have given it a different depth as well.  4.5 out of 5
After that I read 3 free short stories that I got from the GLBT Bookshelf (thank you Tam & Chris for the link)  The first was Halloween Pickup by PA Brown about a guy who quickly picks up a guy who’s in costume as a cop.  They take off and enter a dungeon – but are things really as they seem?  Cute. (8 pages)
Then Lee Rowan’s Gift Exchange (7 pages) about 2 men on a submarine who exchange some great gifts with each other at Christmas. Very sweet.
Next was Josh Lanyon‘s The French Have a Word For It (30 pages) about a artist who is living in Paris trying to make it on his own when his old body guard finds him and they share a wonderful night together.  But things are not always what they seem.  This was very good and worth the read.

After that it was Tabula Rasa by Tory Temple.  This a contemporary western that was recommended to me by Hilcia.  The story of Rafferty (I know 2 Rafferty characters in one week!) who is trying to save his father’s horse ranch that was left to him after his dad died.  He can make enough money on the rodeo circuit as a roper but his partner has a broken ankle.  He gets Cash to be his heeler and they do fine in the circuit – but as lovers, not so good.  Oh, the sex is good but they have issues in their non-relationship.  Then Cash has a freak accident and has a temporary memory loss and can’t remember if they were together.  Well, when Raff doesn’t come through with the whole truth things don’t turn out the way he plans.  A great story that I really enjoyed reading.  Cash is an ass at first but when he loses his memory his has somewhat of a personality change. Another book where I could feel the guys pain.  Was I overly sensitive this week because my heart hurt a lot this past week for many of the characters.  Good stuff. 4 out of 5
Last but not least was yet another read for The Book Binge (I told you I was behind!) called Drilled by Regina Carlysle.  I hate the title of this book – seriously.  However since the girl is dating a guy who owns a petroleum company and is drilling crude oil on her land, I guess it’s fitting.  Doesn’t mean I have to like it! lol  Anyway, this is part of the Tempt the Cougar series and tells the story of 41 year old Lori Donovan who has moved back to the small town that she grew up in.  She meets 31 year old Jackson and things steam up.  I’ll let you know when my review posts.

Some of my Book Binge reviews that posted this past week:
Icing on the Cake by Shayla Kersten (One of my m/m challenge reviews)
Happy Reading!

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What I’ve Been Reading This Week

Posted October 13, 2008 by Tracy in Features | 35 Comments

Another week is gone. Where do they all go I ask you? I have not a clue.

Things here are good. My oldest started her tutoring this week. She’s going 6 hours a week – yes you read that right. No, you’re not hallucinating…I said 6 hours a week. It was her first week so she’s not complaining yet. She likes it and will hopefully continue. Cross fingers!

The youngest did great on her poetry reciting – at least I think she did since we didn’t get anything back from the teacher. I’m assuming she did by what she said. Thanks for all your kind comments – she loved hearing them (yes, I read them all to her).

Yesterday I realized I’m a fucking idiot a really good mom when I took the kids out Halloween costume shopping for 3 hours. Who knew there was a shortage of Batgirl costumes in my city? I sure didn’t! Needless to say they came home happy and I came home and drank. What? Like you don’t do that?

Ok – on to what I read this week:

I finished the other 3 stories in The Magical Christmas Cat. I liked them all. Erin McCarthy’s story, Christmas Bree, was a continuation of the story of the 3 witch sisters that she started in the An Enchanted Season anthology. It’s part of the Ohio’s Most Haunted Town series which includes the book Heiress For Heir that I read recently – but loosely. The Linda Winstead Jones story, Sweet Dreams, was interesting and a little out there but I liked it too. Then there was the Lora Leigh Breed story. I liked that one too. I liked Noble (Noble was also my favorite great-uncle and my youngest inherited Noble as a middle name!). Haley was a little annoying at first but she grew on me. I guess technically this story comes after Mercury’s War since they mentioned Mercury and his mate in the book. Just fyi for those Breed fans out there. I have to say that out of all 4 stories (these 3 and the one I read last week) Nalini Singh’s Stroke of Enticement was my fav.

The next 3 books were novella’s. First was Killer Curves by Regina Carlysle. A cute little story about a race car driver and the woman he’s loved for years but was off limits since she was his friends wife.

The next was I Spy Something Bloody by Josh Lanyon. I won this when Josh was on the DIK blog and it was fantastic. According to JL you either love it or hate it. I was definitely in the love category. Mark and Stephen had fallen in love and talked about the future but Mark got called back to his job as a spy for just one more job. It ends up being two years later when Mark returns and Stephen’s moved on. Great story. Read it.

The next was The Darkest Fire by Gena Showalter. This is actually a prequel to the Lords of the Underworld books. Geryon is the Guardian of Hell and Kadence is the goddess of Oppression. What a pair. But it’s a cute little story and a good beginning to the LOTU series.

Linnea Sinclair has been an author that I’ve been meaning to read but I just hadn’t done it yet. Sci-fi’s not really my bag but I thought I’d give it a whirl after she guested on the DIK. I got Games of Command from the library and it was a great book. I loved the characters and I loved Linnea’s writing even more. I think the next one I read of hers will be Gabriel’s Ghost since that’s been highly recommended.

My Prerogative by Sasha White was next. You’d all love to know what I thought of the book, wouldn’t you? Well, you’ll have to check out The Book Binge…um, sometime, (I’ll try to let you know when) and read my review. 🙂

Last but not least was The Chosen Sin by Anya Bast. This book was kind of hard for me to read. Right off the bat it reminded me of another of her series, The Embraced, and I just couldn’t stop thinking of the similarities. In The Chosen Sin they have the Chosen who are vampires and feed off of blood and then they have succubare that get the “dark kiss” but don’t quite make it to Chosen status and have to feed on sex. In the Embrace series there are Vampir who feed off of blood and demi-vampir who don’t quite make it to Vampir status feed off of sex. Just too similar – I hate it when that happens. The story was ok but not as good as I expected. The sex in Anya’s books is always very steamy so there was no problem there. 🙂 She does have great character and that’s always a plus too.

Happy Reading!

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