A few weeks ago I mentioned that I was going to physical therapy for a rotator cuff issue. Well, the therapist discharged me back to my doc – not because I’m better but because I wasn’t getting any better. Ug. So he injected my shoulder with cortisone and told me not to move my arm for a week and to stop taking my naproxen. A) Not move my arm for a week? Really? Damn near impossible! B) I lasted 4 days without the naproxen and was in such pain I finally broke down and took one. sigh I just want it better! Oh and I’m bringing this edition of WIRLW to you one-handed (as my other arm is in a sling to try to keep it immobile) – so if there are a lot of typos, so sorry.

I have a request this week – if you’re the praying sort then please send up a prayer for David. David is my youngest daughter’s best friend’s father (make sense?) and a friend of the family. He was playing with his daughter and they were walking/running backwards, he fell and cracked his skull big time. He has bleeding on the brain and is in ICU. At last report he was improving slightly, which is good, it’s just slow going.

Ok so you’re here to hear about books, right? Then let me get on with it… 

First for the week was a story called Bedding the Wrong Brother by Virna DePaul. The story is about a woman who has been told that she’s bad in bed. She wants her best friend, Max, to teach her how to please a man but he plays a fast one and replaces himself with his twin, Rhys. Rhys and Melina have had the hots for each other for years but never did anything about it. Obviously they’re upset at the switch but it all works out and it was a sweet romance. 4 out of 5 

Next was Friday Night Alibi by Cassie Mae – the story of Kelli who runs an alibi service for wealthy kids in her town. You can read more in my review by clicking here. 4 out of 5 

Lover at Last by JR Ward is Blay and Qhuinn’s story…finally. I was satisfied with that relationship in the book but felt that she definitely could have spent more time on it. Ward always has a ton of other things going on in her books and this one was no different which was a bit frustrating. I must say that I think this is my fabor BDB cover – just uber-yummy. lol 3.75 out of 5 (read for Book Binge)

Next up was The Trouble With Being a Duke by Sophie Barnes. Anthony meets the woman he wants to marry at his mother’s masked ball but doesn’t know who she is. He finds her but even though he’s a Duke – especially because he’s a Duke – Isabella’s parents refuse to let her marry him. He doesn’t give up though and I loved that about him. Flavored with a bit of Cinderella at first it was a great story (releases 8/27/13) 4 out of 5 

Smokin’ Hot Firemen: Erotic Romance Stories For Women is an anthology edited by Delilah Devlin filled with lots and lots of – you guessed it – smokin’ hot firemen. The anthology on the whole was really good with only a few stories I could have done without. Definitely erotic but could be sweet as well. I liked it. 4 out of 5 (read for Book Binge) 

A friend of mine recommended a series called The Rocker by Terri Anne Browning to me. I read book 1, then immediately picked up 2 and then 3. The stories are full of editing and spelling errors which could have easily been fixed and there’s an inordinate amount of crying. That being said, I couldn’t put them down! lol 

The Rocker That Holds Me is book 1 and shows us 4 rockers, Nik, Jesse, Shane and Drake who make up the band Demon’s Wings. From the time they were all living in a trailer park they took care of Emmie (Ember) who was abused and starved by her druggie mother. The boys grew up and became famous and when Emmie was 15 she came to live with them and helps them in tons of different ways. They all love her deeply but Emmie has always loved Nik in a “not a friend” way as well. The book gives us great yet heart breaking background on Emmie, her journey to adulthood as well as how hard it is to see the man you love sleeping with groupies constantly. This is Emmie and Nik’s story but we get a boatload of everyone else as well. 4 out of 5 

The Rocker That Savors Me is book 2 and is Jesse’s story. The group has bought a home in Malibu and Emmie hires Layla as a housekeeper. From the moment that Jesse sees her he knows she’s the one. It takes Layla a little longer but eventually she falls as well. Layla has custody of her two sisters as well – 6 year old Lucy and 17 (at first) year old Lana. Problems with Layla and her father (and her father and Jesse) come up as well as a misunderstanding. This one was much lighter than book one with far less drama. Don’t get me wrong, there was definitely drama, but not as much as book 1, not still really good. 4 out of 5 

The Rocker That Needs Me is book 3 and this one is Drake and Lana’s story. Lana is 18 now and though Drake and Lana tried to be friends they just couldn’t keep it that way. After Lana gets her heart hurt when Drake sleeps with a groupie while drunk (he’s ALWAYS drunk) she decides that a local college is out and she decides to go to NYU to get away from the daily sight of Drake. This lasts until Drake takes a gig as a judge for a rocker program (kind of like the X Factor or America’s got talent but with rockers) and ends up in NY. The story was good but both the hero and heroine drove me nuts at time. Neither was all that mature – even though Drake was 32 he’d spent most if not all of his adult life in a bottle and didn’t know how to handle some things. I understood this but it was still annoying. lol We get to see all the characters from every book in all the books and I love that. It’s not like they cease to exist just because it’s not their HEA. They’re a family and they are close knit and stay that way. I’m looking forward to Shane’s book. 3.5 out of 5 

Not Planning on You by Sydney Landon was next and this story is about Gray who has had a thing for his soon to be co-worker, Suzy, for almost a year. She’s refused to go out with him but she finally caves. After an accident where she is then laid up and he takes care of her quite sweetly she falls in love with him. Unfortunately he’s got a woman from his past who’s stalking him and then says that the baby she’s carrying is his. Gray then turns into an ass and treats Suzy horribly, imho, and there’s nowhere near enough groveling at the end of the book. This was a decent read but Gray pissed me off. lol 3 out of 5 (read for Book Binge) 

Last for the week was Defiant in the Viking’s Bed by Joanna Fulford. This story was about an Earl’s niece, Astrid, who is promised in marriage to a horrible man, just like her uncle. She plans to run away with another Earl, Leif, to be his mistress as even that is preferable to her fiancé. Leif is captured and the uncle makes him believe that Astrid set the whole thing up. When Leif escapes he takes Astrid as his captive to pay her back for her scheme. This story was even better than I thought it would be. Leif has issues with marriage and family because of his first wife and of course believes that Astrid betrayed him, which she didn’t. He eventually sees the truth but won’t commit to her which causes strife. Definitely put this one on your to-be-bought list if you like a good Viking story. (releases 9/17/13) 4 out of 5

My Book Binge reviews that posted last week:
Awakening by Serena Grey
Anybody But Him by Claire Baxter
The Care and Feeding of an Alpha Male by Jessica Clare

Happy Reading!