What I Read Last Week

Posted March 22, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 14 Comments

Well is was another quiet week at Casa Tracy. For some reason this time change has been kicking my butt and I can’t seem to get my ass out of bed in the morning. Other than that not much to report. 🙂 On to the reading…

First up was Angel’s Evolution by T.A. Chase. This was a book that I read for both my m/m challenge and my DIK challenge as it was one of Kris’s picks. I’ll post my review on Wednesday.

Next up was a yaoi manga called Chocolate Surprise by Lily Hoshino. I didn’t really care for this one at all. The graphics were just ok for me and the stories, well, were kind of frenetic. 2 out of 5

My next read was A Certain Wolfish Charm by Lydia Dare. I read this one for The Book Binge. It was a historical paranormal book about a Duke who is a shapeshifter and the woman that he ends up marrying – his young cousins aunt. I had a few issues with the book but overall I liked it. I’ll let you know when my review posts. 3.75 out of 5

I read Downtime by Tamara Allen because I’m in the m/m romance group on goodreads and this was their book of the month. I am so damned glad I read it. Downtime tells the story of Morgan Nash who is an FBI agent in the middle of a stakeout when he gets transported to the 19th century – 1888 to be exact. Ezra and his friends Henry and Derry were playing around with a book and instead of summoning a demon – which they really didn’t think they’d do – they got Morgan. It takes Morgan some time to figure out that he’s no longer in the 21st century and he’s determined to get back to his time now. But the next day when they all return to the museum to send him back the book of incantations is missing. Morgan ends up spending 2-3 weeks in 1888 looking for the book, trying to discover the identity of Jack the Ripper and falling in love. He and Ezra are amazing together and I adored watching them fall for each other. The other thing I liked about the book is its consistency. There were no great highs and lows but a constant flow of a wonderful story. I never wanted to put the book down and was even crying by the end. So good! I’m so glad that this book was chosen for the monthly read as I probably wouldn’t have picked it up otherwise. (The cover doesn’t appeal to me at all as the characters look much older than they are in the book) 5 out of 5

Next was a story by Savanna Stuart called Unleashed Temptation – book 1 in the Miami Scorcher series. Another shifter story about a woman, Carly, who has moved to Miami to have a change of pace and get away from her cheating ex-boyfriend. She takes a job as an accountant at an auto shop and falls hard for the owner, Nick. Of course the owner is a shifter and knows that she’s his mate but he tries to go slowly so that she doesn’t get scared off. But there is an Immortal who wants her for his own and Nick’s not about to let Carly get harmed. A cute story with shifters, a possessive alpha male and a woman who knows what she wants. Very nice. 4 out of 5

Last but not least was To Wed A Wicked Earl by Olivia Parker. This covered my Tracy’s TBR challenge read for the week and probably my FTSP too (although there’s only 2 books in the series so far). This is Charlotte’s story. She befriends a total rake, the Earl of Rothbury, so that they can help each other. But Rothbury has been in love with Charlotte for years and feels that he’s too soiled for her. He really believes he’s not good enough because of his family background. It’s a light read and a cute one. I did have some issues with Rothbury’s character and his self-esteem issues that he only seemed to have with Charlotte. I really would have liked to have delved further into his past and childhood to get a better view of who he was but it seemed that part was skimmed over. I thought that Charlotte and Rothbury were very cute together though and it definitely made me laugh in a few places. 3.75 out of 5

I am such a doob! I completely forgot to put in her the other yaoi manga that I read this week. Duh. And I just did it last night. lol I swear my mind is going fast. Anyway…I read volumes 3, 4 & 5 of Totally Captivated by Hajin Yoo and loved them. I was disappointed that I didn’t have volumes 5 & 6 handy but I ordered them today so I’ll get to read them in a couple of days. The story follows Ewon who is working for a very young and handsome loan shark. Mookyul has got his eye on Ewon though and wants him for himself – but Ewon isn’t really into Mookyul…but he could be talked into it. 🙂 All volumes 4 to 4.5 out of 5 Oh – and I would swear on a stack of Bibles that my volume 4 doesn’t have that cover but that’s the only one I could find so maybe I’m delirious! lol I’ll have to double check when I get home tonight.

UPDATE: I was totally correct! My volume 4 has a completely different cover – here – I took a picture: