What I Read Last Week

Posted September 6, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 15 Comments

Greetings to all!

And…Happy Labor Day to those in the US! I hope you’re enjoying the holiday and hopefully you, like me, have the day off. Talk about a lazy day. Wow. I wish I could say I’m being uber productive today – besides laundry – but I really hate to lie to my friends. lol None of us want to leave the house because it’s been so stinking hot here. I want to know when I moved to the sun. I must have blocked that out somewhere along the way but that’s apparently where I live because it’s hot like the sun here! It’s been over 100 – F (that’s over 38 C) every day this past week. Right now weather.com says it’s 90 here but the thermometer that’s in my back yard – that’s in the shade – says it’s 100. That’s actually cool. lol

So what happened in Tracyland this week? Not a whole hell of a lot. We went to my youngest daughter’s back to school night and met her teacher. I loved her! She’s fun and funny but has her shit together. She seems like a great teacher and my daughter likes her a lot – super important! The teacher also loves math which makes her a perfect match for my youngest since she loves math as well. (I know, she’s sick, she gets that from my hubby shudders) lol

Anyway, on to what I read this past week:

First up was Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith. This is one I read for The Book Binge. It was the story of a graduate student who goes looking for her ancestry and winds up with a lot more than she bargained for. The book has a lot of history in it, and even though it’s not my thing I really enjoyed it. 4.25 out of 5

Next was another book for The Book Binge called Marriage in Moonlust by Kate Hill. This is about a woman who is given to the local vampire family as their monthly blood sacrifice but she ends up falling in love with one of the vampires instead. A little rushed on the love but not bad. 3.25 out of 5

Next was Savage Sanctuary by Jacqueline Barbary. This was a story of a shapeshifter that is on the run and the man who runs the sanctuary that he’s taken to. They fall in love and face trials and tribulations. 3 out of 5 You can read my review here.

Next was Sureblood by Susan Grant. This was a sci-fi book about warring clans in space and the leaders of those clans that fall in love. Pretty good book. I had some issues with it but on the whole I liked it. 3.75 out of 5 You can read my review here.

My Tracy’s TBR challenge read for the week was The Name of the Game by Willa Okati. This was the story of a gay man, Clay, who is in love with his straight cop roommate, Seth. Seth is in the relationship from hell with Sophie the psycho and it’s decided that Seth will tell Sophie he’s gay to get out of it. It works to a point, but then Seth starts really having feelings and desires for Clay. This was a good book but it was a bit much on the dramatic for me. The men had Sophie to deal with but then they threw in speed dating for Clay as well as some other issues. And did the characters ever work? Uh, not that I could tell. I just found it really wasn’t my cup of tea. 3 out of 5

Next up was Meet Me In Manhattan by Judith Arnold. This here is an absolutely true romance. That’s right, the book was written about the true life romance of Ted and Erika. It’s also part of the True Vows series and I’ll be posting my review of the book on Wednesday as part of the book tour so check back.

Mistress of the Night by Charlotte Featherstone had been in my ereader waaaaay too long so I finally decided it was time to read it. I originally bought it based on the info about the tortured hero – I love those. And boy was Blaine tortured. You see he had epilepsy and back then it was not a illness that was A-ok. If you had the “falling sickness” then you were thought to be possessed by a demon and Blaine was afraid that his secret would get out and he would be committed to Bedlam. He vowed to never get married and never have a child. But he fell in love with Madeline and he couldn’t seem to keep himself away from her. I really liked the book a lot. Blaine could be a right bastard at times while pushing Madeline away and yeah, I hated him for it, but he was so afraid. The problem was, he was so afraid that she’d find his secret out and be repulsed by him that he ended up living in hell because he couldn’t be with her the way he wanted. Very good book but if you read it be prepared to hate Blaine at times along the way. 4 out of 5

And last but not least I re-read Lord of the White Hell book 1 by Ginn Hale. And you know, it was just as great the second time reading it as it was the first. I re-read in preparation for reading book 2 and I wanted to completely refresh my memory. Man I just love Javier and Kiram. Good people. I reviewed this back in June – you can read my review here if you’re interested. 5 out of 5

My Book Binge review that posted last week:
Seduced by a Highlander by Paula Quinn

Happy Reading

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Tagged: Charlotte Featherstone, Ginn Hale, Jacqueline Barbary, Judith Arnold, Kate Hill, Sherwood Smith, Susan Grant, What I Read Last Week, What I've Been Reading This Week, Willa Okati

Review: Sureblood by Susan Grant

Posted September 3, 2010 by Tracy in Reviews | 9 Comments

Five years ago rival space pirate captains Val Blue and Dake Sureblood stole one incredible night together. But their brief, passionate history ended with the assassination of Val’s father and the condemnation of Dake’s clan. Now Val struggles to prove her mettle—to herself and to the dissenters amid her own people. Every successful raid is a boot heel ground into the burning memory of Dake Sureblood—and their secret son is a constant reminder of their shared past….

Ambushed and captured before he can clear his name, Dake Sureblood returns from a hell like no other to expose the true killer of Val’s father. But as the identity of their enemy becomes chillingly clear, the former lovers must put aside their mistrust and join forces to protect their clans and their precious son.

Val and Dake are in rival clans. Whenever they go raiding it seems that one or the other is there before them to raid and take the haul. When Val’s clan, the Blue’s, show up for a raid that Dake’s clan, the Sureblood’s, were just about to initiate, Dake decides he’s had enough. He plans on raiding the spacecraft anyway – despite the fact that the Blue’s are already there, and possibly take someone hostage. What happens is that Dake and Val’s clans end up working together to fight an attack and splitting the profits. Dake and Val had an instant attraction to each other during the raid but know they’ll probably never see each other again. This incident makes Val’s father and the leader of the Blue clan, Conn Blue, decide to start peace talks. He has wanted peace with the other clans for years but there have always been extenuating circumstances that stopped them.

During the peace talk Gathering on Artoom, Val’s home planet, Val and Dake come together and hit it off in a big way. But the night they spent together has a horrible end – with Val’s brother & her father, Conn Blue, dying. A major portion of the Blue clan believe that the Sureblood’s assassinated Conn Blue but Val does not. She allows the Sureblood’s to leave the planet. But when they leave they’re ambushed, beaten and forced into captivity.

Five years later Val is bitter and angry. She can’t help hating the Sureblood’s. She thinks that Dake left the planet and never contacted her. Her heart was broken because she was starting to fall for him and she felt that he had come, used her and then forgotten about her and any peace the clans may have had. She now has his son and Dake doesn’t even know the boy exists. Things have changed and Artoom is struggling to survive but could things be better? When Dake is released from prison he has some insights about Val’s father’s death he needs to share with Val, who he’s never forgotten, but Val’s just ready to put him on trial for her father’s death as well as other crimes.

This was a fun read. I don’t normally read sci-fi so the fantasy aspect of the book kept me very entertained throughout.

The romance between Dake and Val was definitely on again, off again. I think they spend as much time together in this book as they do apart – page-wise. In the book they’re only together for a short time before Dake gets taken away for 5 years. I really liked their initial attraction. Even though they were from rival clans they didn’t try to deny their attraction and that’s always so refreshing to read. I did have a bit of a problem with Val believing such bad things about Dake when he never contacted her – especially because she never contacted his planet to find out any info. I think if it had been me I would have called him up just to bitch him out! lol Dake I had no problem with. He was a great hero and I loved the scenes that he was involved in. A man full of honor, honesty and fearlessness – I like those qualities in a hero.

I also like the raider (space pirate) camaraderie in this book – and the loyalty to the clans. Yes, some of the raiders were distrustful of outsiders but I think that was to be expected. Also they were easily swayed to liking someone after hating them for so long which was quite amusing.

So if you like space pirates and some romance mixed this is definitely one you’ll need to read.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

I received this book for review from the publisher.