Tag: yaoi manga

What I Read Last Week

Posted February 28, 2011 by Tracy in Features | 12 Comments

Oh so many things are going on in Tracyland but you would all be bored to tears to hear it all so I’ll give you a a couple of good tidbits.

My youngest had an eye appt. since she was having problems seeing the board at school.  Though the prescription will be weak she will still need glasses. She, being the stylin 8 year old that she is, picked out some adorable glasses.  As soon as we pick them up I will pass pictures along.

Then when I went to visit and have lunch with my parents on Saturday it snowed!  I know for a lot of you this is not exciting but since that’s an unusual occurrence I thought I’d share. 🙂  This is what the road leading to their house looked like from the storm the night before  

and this is what it looked like when we got out of lunch.  It was actually coming down pretty steadily while we were eating lunch and this was just 45 min. worth. By the time I left their house my youngest was having a great time throwing snowballs at her grandpa! 

So what did I read this week:

First I started off with yaoi.  I’ve had this since Kris was here (yes, back in Nov!) and I was sucking at reading it and getting it to Chris who was next in the swap.  So these became my Tracy’s TBR challenge reads for the week as well since I’ve had them so damned long.  So I first I read I Can’t Stop Loving You vol 2 by Row Takakura.  Kyouji is at a mountain retreat doing his monk training when he’s accused of murder. Yu comes to see him and gets involved.  It was cute but odd at times. 3 out of 5 

Next was Thunderbolt Boys Excite vols. 1 &2 by Asami Tojo.  These were stories about models and frankly I thought they were a bit ridiculous and it was all I could do to keep reading.  They were drawn well, though. 2 out of 5 for both.

Then I read Incubus vols. 1, 2 & 3 by Yayoi Neko.  This was an interesting story about Lenniel who is half human and half demon who lived with Judas in the demon world but then Judas had to leave and lost all of his memories.  Lenniel has finally found him again but Judas is madly in love with his professor.  Judas also has serious self-esteem issues which he comes by after everyone, including his parents, constantly putting him down.  There’s also a second story with a demon who is a butler for a rich family and the young master who he loves and loves him back.  It’s quite good at times and others, not so much. 🙂  Vols.1 & 3: 3.5 out of 5, vol. 2: 4 out of 5

After that it was The Swing by Lissa Matthews – a book I read for The Book Binge.  This was a decent story about a man and a woman who are deeply in love but haven’t been together because she was once married to his now dead twin.  Sounds creepy but it was actually a very good short story that was quite emotional.  4 out of 5. My review is here.

River Marked by Patricia Briggs – another Book Binge Book – and so damned good.  I really loved Briggs’ writing and all of the wonderful scenarios she comes up with for Mercy and Adam to get involved in.  This followed Mercy and Adam on their honeymoon (no, not a spoiler!) and they have to end up fighting beasts and meeting others that they never expected to meet.  No, I’m not telling any more.  I don’t want to spoil things.  Suffice it to say that it’s great.  I loved every bit of it and am sad that I’m done reading it. 5 out of 5
So has anyone read any of her other series and if so which did you read and what did you think?

I finally picked up How To Woo A Reluctant Lady by Sabrina Jeffries.  This is book 3 in the Hellions of Halstead Hall series and it was good.  This was Minerva’s story and she is still pissed that her grandmother is making her grandchildren get married so she decides to advertise in a ladies magazine for a husband.  Giles Masters, a friend of the family, shows up to try to win her hand but she thinks it’s all pretend and he really wants to marry her.  Great romance and of course humor and intrigue as well.  Good stuff. 4 out of 5

Last on the list for the week was All or Nothing by James Buchanan. This was book 3 in the Taking the Odds series and it was a good one. Buchanan writes so well that I get drawn into the story and next thing you know it’s over!  How the heck did that happen? lol  Brandon is visiting Nick in Vegas the week between Christmas and New Year and he’s brought his daughter, Shayna, along.  She’s not thrilled to be at Nick’s, nor with Brandon and she’s got the attitude to prove it.  When Shayna is taken life goes on the emotional roller coaster from hell.  Such a great story and I certainly hope there are more books about Nicky and Brandon in the future.  5 out of 5


My Book Binge review that posted since last week:
The Swing by Lissa Matthews

Happy Reading


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What I Read Last Week

Posted January 31, 2011 by Tracy in Features | 8 Comments

What a crazy, insane week!
At work it was not only monthly newsletter time but it was also time for the Annual Meeting and haranguing people to get their reports in, etc and then having to organize it all really isn’t my idea of a good time. Thank heavens it only happens once a year! lol
On top of that my oldest had a really rough week with her math teacher and so it was emotionally charged at home. *sigh* Even Calgon couldn’t take me away. 🙂 Hopefully this will be a better week for her.
Oh, and she went to spend the night at a friends house and came home with her hair 5 inches shorter! Now I’ve been wanting her to get her hair cut because it’s super thick and really heavy and gets into a tangled mess but she kept telling me NO! But even so, don’t you think the friend’s mom who cut it would have had my daughter ASK me before she took scissors to hair? I mean, really? I found that incredibly presumptuous. It looks adorable and was exactly what I wanted her to do – and I know my daughter, I’m sure she didn’t even think to call me because that’s just how she is…and she’s heard me tell her to get her hair cut – but still! I know I shouldn’t have an issue with it since she obviously accomplished what I could not but it just irks me. I know, I’m strange. lol
Ok –enough about me – how are you? What were you up to this past week?
So on to why we’re all here…here’s what I read this past week:
I started off my week with The Wicked Wickerly by Patricia Rice. I didn’t like the characters in this one and frankly the story was starting to grate on my nerves after only 30 pages. I’m not sure I can even call this a DNF because I only read 60 pages but I just couldn’t get any further than that but I’m gonna. DNF
My Tracy’s TBR challenge book for the week was A Brush Of Wings edited by Anne Regan. This is a Dreamspinner Press anthology and it was a good one. There were all different types of stories having to do with angels in some way – whether it’s a real angel, a guardian angel or just someone you think is an angel. Darned good. 4 out of 5
These Things Hidden by Heather Gudenkauf was my next read. This was the story of 4 women whose live get interwoven by 1 small boys life and it’s not all fun and games, lemme tell ya. My review will post tomorrow. 3.75 out of 5
Werewolf Me by Amarinda Jones was a book that I read for the Book Binge. Well, I didn’t actually get all the way through it. 60 pages is apparently the magic number for when I stop reading a book – only this book was only 147 pages. I didn’t like the characters all that well. Everything seemed over-dramatized and when the guy said I Love You and he’d just learned the girls name I was done. You can read my DNF review here if you’d like. DNF.
The Lady Most Likely…: A Novel in Three Parts by Julia Quinn, Eloisa James and Connie Brockway. This was the story of an Earl who enlists his sister to make a list of eligible women who he can marry. He’s 28 but has decided that it’s time to have an heir. The sister decides to have a house party since it’s after the season and invites the women on her list as well as other women and eligible bachelors. The story covers the women on the list as their find their loves – but is it the earl? Just an adorable book. I really liked all three stories and thought they were connected quite well. 4 out of 5
The Tourist by Clare London was next. Clare was nice enough to send me this lovely book that comes out on Feb. 28th. The story is about a spirit, Ace, who jumps to different bodies in order to have fun and mostly, sex. But on one jump he jumps into a man, Dan, who is in a relationship with Ricky. Ricky has issues with his ex…who doesn’t really think of Ricky as an ex. Ace jumps from Dan to Ricky and for once stays and gets to know the men. I’ll be posting my review of this a little later this month. Great story. 4.25 out of 5
Next up was Dangerous Secrets by Katie Reus. This is the story of Izzy who is living in Florida and working as a bartender. She’s got the hots for Adam who works at the bar too but Adam is working there to watch over Izzy for her father who is a wealthy businessman. There’s a madman on the loose and Adam is determined to keep Izzy safe. A really great read – my review will post on The Book Binge on the 4th. 4.25 out of 5
I decided to read Trusted Bond by Mary Calmes but realized it’s been a little over a year since I read Change of Heart which is the first book in the storyline. I decided to re-read Change of Heart first and it was just as good a read this time as it was the last. Jin who is a werepather, but a very rare type, who was kicked out of his tribe for not only being a reah but also because he was gay. His best friend Crane left the tribe with him and they’ve been moving from town to town ever since. He ends up meeting Logan Church who ends up being his mate. Jin has a hard time dealing with the fact that Logan had not been gay before he met him and Jin has problems believing in their bond. Just a great story. 4 out of 5
Trusted Bond by Mary Calmes takes up with Jin and Logan 6 months later. Jin is having issues, again, with believing that Logan can love him as much as Jin loves Logan because of the fact that the mating bond chose them. He thinks that Logan wouldn’t have even noticed him if not for the mating bond. On top of those issues Jin gets kidnapped by an old flame that isn’t right in the head. Jin goes through some horrific things and is eventually purposely kept from Logan. It’s an action packed story and really good. 4.25 out of 5
After that I decided to catch up a bit with my yaoi manga reading. I’ve been a bad little yaoi swapper and not read the books that Kris gave me when she left LA….in Nov. I know, I know, I suck. I got a few read yesterday and will continue on this week so that the next person on the yaoi swap list can get a package from Santa. lol
First up was Your Love Sickness by Hayate Kuku started off telling the story of two foxes who guard a shrine. One is a white fox who is very high up in the fox class system and the other is a red fox who is the lowest of the low. But the white fox loves the red fox despite that. There were other stories in this book that were cute as well. 3 out of 5
Next up was Skyscrapers of Oz by Yoshino Somei. The story revolved around 2 men and 2 boys (seriously 1 looked incredibly young to me – like 12 but I think he was supposed to be older than that) whose lives are all interwoven. The two men run a business and get caught up in one of the boys lives after being given a job. I really liked the graphics in this one and the story was good as well. 4 out of 5
Next was 9th Sleep by Makoto Tateno. This is classified as yaoi manga but really there was no boy love involved. It was the story of 2 kings who are in a crazy cycle to either die and go into a sleep for 100 years while the other creates an heir who then inherits the previous kings memories. It’s pretty convoluted. But 1 king doesn’t want to either die or sleep so he keeps getting reborn into different women. The graphics were good but the story really left something to be desired imho. 2 out of 5
Last for the week was I Can’t Stop Loving You by Row Takakura. Kyouji is training as an exorcist but can’t actually see the ghosts. His boyfriend, Yu, sees the ghosts but can’t exorcise them. Yu has serious jealousy issues in this book – not helped by his cousin who keeps trying to get Kyouji for himself. It was cute and well drawn. 3 out of 5
My Book Binge Reviews that posted last week:

Happy Reading!


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What I Read Last Week – Yaoi-Con update – Dudleytown Winner

Posted November 1, 2010 by Tracy in Reviews | 32 Comments

Happy Monday!
So I’m back from Yaoi-con and back to work *whimper* but it’s all good. I guess. lol I had a wonderful time in San Francisco and it was a time filled with awesome sauce. The fact that I got to meet Tam, Kris, Chris and Jen was the bestest part by far – four wonderfully funny women who are just nice people. I felt quite honored to be there with them. We never did get a group picture but here’s one of Jen, Tam and Tam’s daughter all dressed to go the Rocky Horror Picture Show. 
We had a great time going to the Castro and walking to Haight/Ashbury.  We shopped at Union Square 

(I’m totally buying these for Kris!)

and walked to Chinatown where we had lunch.  

This is Chris after she’s stuffed the biggest piece of broccoli EVER into her mouth.  (Yeah, tried to get the actual stuffing on vid but she was too quick for me)

Chris & the broccoli of doom

(Click on picture to watch video)

We went back to the Castro and Jen, Chris and I bought a chocolate macaroon shaped like a penis with coconut hairy balls from Hot Cookie.  

And then decided to torture all of our male friends with the penis macaroon death!  Evil, I know.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

for some reason it’s not letting me post the full sized vids so just click on the pictures and it will take you to the videos)

Explanation of my pig, cupcake, tight asses post…when I was younger I picked up a pig trinket of some sort and the next thing I knew everyone and their mother and the horse they rode in on was buying me a pig of some sort. I pretty much started collecting them until one day my oldest sister, Ann, bought me a real pot-bellied pig for my birthday. Hamilton was so cute and was a huge pain in the ass but I loved him to death! Anyway, I told Kris about the pig thing and next thing we knew pigs were everywhere we looked. Who knew there were so much pig paraphernalia in the world? Really.

Then there was the cupcake thing…I read Icing on the Cake by Alison Kent before I left and I telling Kris that I was so damned hungry for cupcakes while reading it since they had cupcake descriptions at the beginning of each chapter. That day…and many days afterwards, someone was mentioning cupcakes or we were seeing them in abundance. I think it was a conspiracy to make me gain 10 pounds. lol
And the tight asses (though it should be self-explanatory)…this started when I was reading a book – can’t remember which one right now – and the character was describing the man he was attracted to as having the most perfectly tight ass with the jeans that cupped it beautifully. You gotta wonder – are there really that many tight asses in the world? We never hear about the men that others are attracted to as having a flat ass, now do we? Definitely not as appealing – but really…more likely to be true.:)
Now Yaoi-con. What fun. It was a con made up of panels, author signings, games, artwork and of course a dealer room where you can buy stuff. The con also had other stuff that we didn’t attend like the Bishi bingo session (where I hear those Bishi’s stripped down to their undies) and the Bishi auction where you could actually purchase (for charity) a Bishi to go with you to the dance that they had (which we didn’t attend either). There were some crazily dressed people there but it was fun to look at all of them. Tam took my camera around and got some good shots:

And these were just a few – SO many costumes!

There were also a bunch of m/m authors in attendance and it was fun to meet and talk to them. On Friday after the Opening Ceremonies – where they unveiled this beautiful banner

Tam Chris, Jen and I had drinks with Marie Sexton, Andrew Grey and Lynn Flewelling. Clare London was there for a bit as well but had to go prepare for her panel. I just loved all of these people. They were just wonderful and funny and it was so nice to just talk to them for a bit. On Saturday we had coffee with Amy Lane, Andrew Grey and Mary Calmes and lunch with Marie and Andrew again, Belinda McBride, Clare London and Z.A. Maxfield – again, wonderfully friendly and nice people. During the course of the day I also was lucky enough to meet Ginn Hale, Astrid Amara, Nicole Kimberling, TC Blue, Felicitas Ivey, EM Lynley, Rowan McBride and Ariel Tachna. Gosh – that’s something that doesn’t happen every day! I was totally perfecting my fan girl squeee…only I have to admit to keeping it on the inside and not embarrassing myself completely. I wanted to jump up and down several times while meeting everyone but kept myself in check. Dammit – it was hard! lol

The best group picture I have – although Kris is missing and we added Andrew Grey! (I apparently have gout and can’t stand up straight! lol)

It was sad having to come home while all the girls were still at the house but RL called and I had to get back to my family. If I had been gone for Halloween I think my kids would have strung me up…my hubby would have too, I’m sure. As it was we had all of 3, yes THREE, kids come to the house for candy. We live on a hill so we never get a huge amount, but three? Wow. Here are my kids in their costumes. The oldest was a belligerent omg-do-you-really-have-to-take-my-picture referee and the youngest the ever popular candy corn witch.:)

I have no idea why she was standing on the coffee table but I just went with it. She’s got a mind of her own. lol

Ok – So what did I read this week? Well I started a book before I left home and read it on the plane. The problem was that it needed my full attention and once I got to SF I couldn’t give it that. So that book went back into my bag and I did a yaoi manga binge – which seemed fitting since we were there for yaoi-con!
In order of reading:

Wild Rock by Kazusa Takashima – The story of two warring clans. One clan leader sends his son out dressed like a woman so that he can get close to the other clan leaders son. They of course fall in love but how can they be together with their clans warring. This was a really well drawn book and I liked the story. Very primitive but good. There was also an extra about the clan leaders themselves that was great. 4 out of 5

Saihoshi by Kosen – The story about a Guardian who is charged with seeing a spoiled prince’s safety. The Guardian finds himself falling for the prince’s servant (and lover) though. Another great book. I wasn’t getting into the story at first – even though I really liked the graphics, but Tam said to keep reading and I’m so glad I did as it ended up being a really good book. 4 out of 5

Pineapples and Chocolate by EM Lynley – This is not a yaoi manga but a short, free m/m book I got from ARe. The story was about a guy who sees an attractive man in the grocery store and decides he’d like his chocolate sauce poured all over him so he can lick it off. The two go back to his apartment for a little get together. A very cute story. 3.5 out of 5

Two of Hearts by Kano Miyamoto – This was the story of an author who is having writers block. He finds a teenager on the beach and brings him home for a shower and food. The boy has an alcoholic mother and is not taken care of. The two start a relationship that goes one for a long time. This was good – not great. The situation with the teenager’s home life was odd and the writer and his agents relationship was odd too. Not bad graphics. 3 out of 5.

Wishing for the Moon by Dany & Dany – A story of four men who come together: two actors, a director and another who ends up writing a play. The interaction between the four – what happens when love and jealousy gets mingled together. Good but could be a bit depressing at times. I like Dany & Dany’s graphics. 3.5 out of 5

The Lily and the Rose by Dany & Dany – Two boys who meet and fall in love at school – Christophe wants to be a priest and devote his life to God – Alain wants nothing more than to find the man who killed his mother. Years later they meet while Alain is under orders to get Christophe into a compromising position so that he can be used by a Cardinal. Alain and Christophe still love each other though and try not to hurt each other. Again, good graphics but Dany & Dany’s characters look the same in most books I discovered. 3.5 out of 5

IDOL by Dany & Dany – A bizarre story about an artist, David, and the prostitute, Adam, he hires to be his muse. The artist falls in love with Adam but the guy is still out with other men which doesn’t set well with the artist. This was very angst ridden and I’m sure poetic in some way. The end had me saying: WTF?. Again, good graphics but I don’t think this one was for me. 2 out of 5

Anima by Dany & Dany – A Steampunk yaoi novel…not something you read every day. Patrick, a journalist, meets Danya, famous dancer, on a cruise where they hit it off. But Danya’s “agent” doesn’t want Danya having anything to do with Patrick and tries to tear them apart. I really liked this one a lot. The graphics were different enough that it made a difference in my reading of the book and I very much enjoyed the steampunk aspect of the book. 4 out of 5

The Aluria Chronicles by Calissa Leigh & Yishan Li – A boy, Gin, (who looks to be about 10) is accused of murder and set out as a sacrifice for the demon to kill only the demon decides to save him and take him to Aluria. He’s jailed, for his own safety, until the Alurians can figure out who he is, where he came from, is he a threat to them, etc. In his cell he meets Kakale who is a vampire. Kakale switches bodies with him and in Gin’s escape he meets Rakioul, another vampire, who helps Gin. The graphics on this one were pretty good but the story bothered me for the fact that Gin looked so young. He was a sex slave in his previous land and then has sex with Kakale and damn if it was just disturbing! lol I’m sure he was supposed to be 18 or over and just look young but I just couldn’t enjoy the book because of it. 2 out of 5

Making Lemonade by TC Blue – Not a yaoi manga but an m/m novella about Evan who is grieving his lover’s death. He is comforted by his lover’s nephew, Gray, (who’s about the same age as him as his lover was older than him) and they become friends. But it’s more than friendship and Evan has a hard time accepting with his feelings toward Gray as he thinks he shouldn’t be having them at all after Will’s death. It was a great book about dealing with the emotional upheaval of death and the beginnings of new love. I really liked both Evan and Gray a lot and thought they were just perfect for each other. I will definitely be reading more of TC’s books. (I have Margarita Mondays all set and ready for me on my EZReader!) 4 out of 5

Finder series book 1: Target in the Finder by Ayano Yamane – Akihito Takaba is enlisted by a police detective to get pictures of a deal that’s taking place. He does this but the pictures are stopped by Asami who was in the pictures and is a powerful underworld leader. Asami decides to punish Takaba with sex and there’s some non-con sex going down. But there’s another player in the mix – Fei Long from China. Another big wig in the Chinese underworld – he’s getting back at Asami through Takaba. The rest of the book is a series of shorts that are, of course, incredibly drawn and quite entertaining. 4 out of 5

Finder seris book 2: Cage in the Finder by Ayano Yamane – This is really Fei Long’s story. It tells the story of Fei Long’s family, where he came from and what exactly his association with Asami, from book 1, is. I really liked the way Fei Long is drawn with his flowing hair – just beautiful. There is only 1 unrelated short story in this book but it connects with a short that was in book 1. 4 out of 5

Overall a very good yaoi manga reading week and a fun week in general!
My Book Binge review that posted since last Monday:
And the winner of LB Gregg’s Dudleytown is (chosen by Random.org):

Commenter #9 – Sandy Jay

Congratulations! Since you were so kind and left your email address on the comment post I will email your copy to you!


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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 Binge3.5 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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What I Read Last Week

Posted July 26, 2010 by Tracy in Features | 13 Comments

Hello All!
I had a really good week last week – I hope you all did too.  I got my old/new glasses…YAY!  My kids came home from their extra portion of the vacation… DOUBLE YAY!  It was just a nice week all around.
It was a nice reading week too so I’ll get to that now! 🙂
First up was Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs.  This is book 5 in the Mercy Thompson series and it was another great one.  This story mostly centered around the Fae and one Faery Queen trying to take control of everything, but it also had wonderful moments of Adam and Mercy and the struggles they have with their relationship.  Adam’s pack and the issues with Mercy being one of the pack and with Samuel and his desire to end his life.  It was just a great read.  4.5 out of 5
Next up was a very short (23 pages) erotic m/m story by Gavin Atlas called La Playita.  This was the story of a college student on vacation in Costa Rica.  He meets up with a couple of local men who want to play out his sexual fantasies with him.  It was one on 3 and it was pretty darned hot.  The issue I had?  No condoms, no lube while having sex on the beach.  Ouch and OMG! lol 3.5 out of 5
Next up was Corralled by Lorelei James.  This is book #1 in her new Blacktop Cowboys series.  It was another great cowboy story.  I read this one for The Book Binge so keep your eyes peeled for my review. 🙂  4 out of 5
Twice Tempted by a Rogue by Tessa Dare was my next read.  Book 2 in the Stud Club series.  I really liked Rhys St. Maur – the poor man is so emotionally broken but such a winner in my book.  I very much liked the heroine, Meredith, too – a fighter who would do what she needed to do to take care of her family and her town.  Rhys came back to his hometown after 14 years and he doesn’t get a great reception.  He decides to stay – probably for all the wrong reasons and tries to talk Meredith into marrying him.  As much as she’s dreamed about that very thing her whole life she can’t do it as it’s not the best thing for the town.  I really love Tessa’s writing – she has this great way of putting things that speaks to me.  But in this instance as much as I liked the story the characters relationship didn’t click with me – I just couldn’t feel their connection. 3.5 out of 5
My next read was Seeking Kokopelli by Shelley Munro.  This was the story of musician Adam and his crewman/roadie Nate.  Nate’s wife died a year before but he’s now having lusty thoughts about Adam.  Nate is hesitant to start a relationship with Adam but eventually gives in.  On top of this is the fact that Adam used to be “THE” Kokopelli, bestowing blessings on his village’s crops and the women for fertility.  But his father had kicked him out and ripped his powers away for being gay.  His brother now has the power but he’s losing it and it’s returning to Adam.  But Adam’s brother can’t deal with that and tries to kill him.  It was a good story but after a bit Nate’s objections, etc. just started getting old. I have to say I didn’t care for the whole brother out to kill hero thing either.  3 out of 5
My Tracy’s TBR Challenge Read as well as my FTSP read for the week was Fire Me Up by Katie MacAlister.  This is book 2 in her Guardian series.  In the first book I found Aisling, the main character, to be a bumbler but it was still pretty cute.  This one I found her to be less of a bumbler which was good.  She is accused of murder, yet again, but allowed to try and clear herself.  On top of that she’s having issues with Drake who is her Wyvern mate.  He wants her and all of her attention and unfortunately doesn’t go about it a way that Aisling can handle.  I have to say that I did feel for Aisling as she felt betrayed by Drake but lust can cloud your mind. lol  I’ll be reading more from this series this week.  3.5 out of 5
My next read was InDescent by KZ Snow.  This is actually the fourth book in the Jackson Spey-Adin Swift story arc but only the second one that I’ve read. The story is about a man who holds a grudge against Jackson.  He’s gotten a powerful prism that he plans to trap Jackson in, but in truth Jackson has been chosen so that he may repair the rift between worlds (That was so readers digest version it’s ridiculous). There is so much going on in this book I can’t possibly tell all but it was just an excellent read.  The writing, the relationship arc, the magic descriptions – I just loved everything about this book. 5 out of 5
I of course couldn’t finish reading InDescent and not immediately pick up To Be Where You Are which is the next book in KZ Snow’s series. This book was about one of Jackson’s friends whose partner is missing. Noah wants Jackson’s help but Jackson doesn’t want to get involved. In the meantime Adin is waiting for Celia to go talk to Jackson as Adin and Jackson’s relationship has grown and they just want to be together all the time rather than the once every couple of months they have now. Adin feel obligated to Celia and feels that she must “let him go” rather than just break things off. The problem is that Jackson’s friend Noah has the magic to take over someone’s will and in order to get Jackson to help him find his partner Noah takes over Celia’s will and makes her a girlfriend who’s more than a bit on the reluctant side in letting Adin go. Jackson must face down a voodoo sorcerer in order to get the partner back. Another great read! 4 out of 5
After that I decided that I really needed to catch up on my yaoi manga reading since I did eventually have to send these books off to the whoever the next person was who was waiting for them. I took a couple of hours and hit the books. I didn’t catch up completely because I got a lot at one time but I made a dent in them! Woohoo.
First up was You Will Fall in Love and You Will Drown in Love (which is the next volume in the series) by Hinako Takanaga. In You Will Fall in Love we meet Haru who is a long term sub at a school. He runs into Tsukasa who attends the school and has been in love with Haru for years. But Haru was an archer who thought he was in love with Tsukasa’s older brother. Tsukasa moves in to make him believe that he’s in love with Tsukasa, not his brother. It was a pretty darned cute story although very high school. I liked the graphics. 3.75 out of 5
You Will Drown in Love is the story of Tsukasa’s brother, Reiichiro, that takes place at the same time as the first book. Reiichiro starts as manager of one of his father’s fabric stores. He’s a horribly blunt person and has no clue how to work with customers. His asst. manager, Jinnai, is a bit disgruntled with the fact that he has to call a younger man and less experienced sales person his boss. But they become friends and eventually fall in love. Again, good graphics and though I didn’t like Reiichiro all that well I really liked Jinnai quite a bit. 3.5 out of 5
Next was Madness (volumes 1 & 2) by Kairi Shimotsuki. This story takes place in the year 3000 and tells the story of a band of killers that are being hunted. The main guy had fallen in love while in captivity with a priest and when he breaks out decides to take the priest with him. Good graphics yet a bit to indistinct for my tastes. I liked the story line though. 3.75 for volume 1 and 3.5 out of 5 for volume 2.
Next was Age Called Blue by Est Em. This was an odd story of two guys who are trying to get a band together but one of them is a thief and steals the others guitars for money. He takes off for days and then shows ups drunk. He ends up in prison for stealing a car and hitting someone. It also has a couple of other stories in it. They’re all kind of bizarre and I wasn’t too big of a fan of the graphics.3 out of 5
Next was Hate To Love You by Makoto Tateno. This told the story of two men whose families had been rivals for generations but fell in love. It was a strange tale of a definite love/hate relationship. 3 out of 5
Last was Tea For Two by Yaya Sakuragi. The story of a boy whose sister decides to put him into the Tea Ceremony Club because he’s such a klutz and she wants him to have a little refinement. Tokumaru and Hasune find that they have more in common then they originally thought. I liked the graphics on this one and it was a cute story. 3.5 out of 5 
And last for the week was Crazy for Love by Victoria Dahl. This was an interesting story. Chloe and her friend Jenn head off to a secluded island in Virginia to get away from life. You see Chloe’s fiancĂ© crashed a plane and faked his own death. When he reappeared he blamed Chloe for being a Bridezilla. She’s then plagued by paparazzi and takes off for some peace and quiet. They meet brothers Max and Elliot at the resort and Chloe and Max hit it off but Max has issues and once he finds out that Chloe isn’t the “normal” girl he hopes for, turmoil ensues. I’ll be reviewing this one soon but it was a different type of love story – one I liked. 4.25 out of 5
My Book Binge reviews that posted this past week:
Happy Reading!


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