April Round Up

on Paper/eBook

Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley - B/B+  I have recently discovered the reading crack* that is Kristen Ashley.  Her writing is not for everyone.  There are very long run-on sentences (some of which don’t make sense), some abuse of tenses and apostrophes… but.  But.  The stories are strong and if you like the alpha protector type who likes dirty talk and laugh out loud funny heroines (and heroes for that matter), an authentic girl posse who drinks cosmopolitans and eat cookie dough and other fattening things, this might be for you.

Mystery Man is the first book in the Dream Man series (but I started with book 4, Motorcycle Man because I’d heard that is the “gateway drug” – I’d heard right by the way). 

  

Gwendolyn Kidd has been having the strangest relationship – 18 months earlier she met a hot sexy guy in a bar and with very (and I mean very) few words, found herself having the best sex of her life with him. They don’t exchange names or conversation.  And he keeps turning up, every few days for more hot sex, in the middle of the night, then he says “Later, babe” and leaves.  Matters come to a head when Gwen’s sister Ginger gets in a lot of trouble with a lot of bad people.  Her Mystery Man, Cabe “Hawk” Delgado is a commando type and rides to the rescue.  

I have another review up at AudioGals today...

I reviewed Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs in print here.  At AudioGals I review the audiobook version - Lorelei King brings it.

Frost Burned by Patricia Briggs

Why I read it:  I received a review copy from the publisher.  I *may* have done a happy dance when I opened the package.

What it's about:  (from Goodreads)  Shapeshifter Mercy Thompson's life is calming down, at least enough that she can focus on mundane matters like Black Friday sales. But on her return, Mercy is unable to contact her mate, Alpha Adam Hauptman, or the other members of their pack. All she knows is that Adam is angry and in pain. With the werewolves fighting a political battle to gain acceptance from the public, Mercy fears Adam's disappearance may be related - and that he and the pack are in serious danger. Outclassed and on her own, Mercy may be forced to seek assistance from the most unlikely of allies: the vampire seethe.

What worked for me (and what didn't): Patricia Briggs delivers again.  How does she do it?   With every book I get a bit scared that it's not going to live up to expectations.  And then she blows me away. Again.

The intricate plot went unexpected places (why does this surprise me?) and challenged me just enough that I had to concentrate in places but not enough for me to get lost.  Someone kidnaps the wolves (How you ask? Well, there is an explanation and Adam won't let it happen again, you can be sure of that.) and Mercy is left scrambling to protect those of/associated with the Pack left behind (namely Kyle, Ben, Jesse, Gabriel and his family) and try and locate Adam and the other wolves without creating an interspecies incident which could lead to problems for the Pack.

"Tranq. Arse."  that one wasn't as clear, but I could understand him and assumed the last word was a location and not and epithet. Though with Ben it was a risky call.

February Round Up

on Paper/eBook

Rule of Three by Kelly Jamieson - B  Very good m/m/f menage story where the characters actually talk about their relationship, their plans and (begin to) address potential traps which may arise.  Most of the book is spent developing the relationship and changing it from an m/f/m to an m/m/f.  As unrealistic as I gather they are (I understand from Twitter - my source of all the important information - that polyamory is mostly a couple who each (or maybe just one) have separate relationships with others - a triad is apparently kind of unusual), m/m/f are my favourite type of menage stories.  I felt there is more "equality" to the relationship where all three feel love and sexual desire for the other rather than the concept of the 2 guys "sharing" the woman.   The most unfortunately named Dag* is Chris' best friend from college.  He has been out of town, having left after realising his unrequited love for Chris would remain so.  He believes Chris is relentlessly straight.  Even though they have shared a lot of women together, there has never been any touching of man bits.  Chris and Kassidy have been dating about a year and have just moved in together.  They are very much in love.  Kassidy develops feelings for Dag, he develops feelings for her and Chris eventually recognises his feelings for Dag.  Lordly it is a sexy book.  I devoured it in virtually one sitting.  The writing was good; Ms. Jamieson has a very entertaining style.  I would have liked more about their life together as a triad, a bit more about some of the practical difficulties and how they would deal together - this stuff was only just brought up at the very end and, while there were discussions, I wasn't sure how it would work in practice and I wasn't sure if Chris would actually talk more about his feelings (something he struggled with the whole book).  How would Kassidy's parents react?  What would happen if there was some jealousy which arose?  Are interactions between 2 of the 3 okay or do all 3 have to be there?  To be fair, this was the getting together book, not the how it works book, but I can't say I wasn't curious.  Anyways, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

*I don't know if it means the same thing here as in the US, but a "dag" is a bit of sheep's dung caught up in the wool around their rear end and it's NOT what I want to be thinking of in a sexy book. Especially a sexy book where there's backdoor activity, if you know what I'm saying.

Hotel Pens by Geoffrey Knight - B  Very good m/m short about travel writer, Joe Jordan, who broke up with his lover some time ago and has been lonely ever since.  Because of his job, he's always in hotels and he's a keen collector of their pens.  While in New York for work, he meets Claude, a French ex-pat who is living at the Beacon Hotel and translating m/m romance books into French. Claude courts Joe and teaches him a thing or two about love, himself and New York by writing various messages in pen on Joe's body in a kind of scavenger hunt.  I found the writing overall to be engaging and sensitive and I liked how as Joe rediscovered New York, he rediscovered himself also.  I was also happy that Joe had things to offer Claude and it wasn't all one-sided.  The story was very short (56 pages) and ends in a HFN ending.  I wondered what would happen to the couple after - Joe is still a travel writer after all, but maybe there will be further stories for these two?  The author is Australian but I think he's definitely been to New York, there is a great sense of place in the book.

Fantasy to the (Hyper) Extreme?

aka a kind of review and a rambling justification for why I like Reaper's Property by Joanna Wylde.

As I start this post, I'm about halfway through the book but I wanted to start getting my thoughts down before they scattered.  Reaper's Property was recommended to me by DA's Jane.  She said it was "hardcore" and "intense and emotional" and she clearly loved it.  Her recommendation was not without caveats however - she noted:  "Anyway, warning warning warning. Know that you are getting an over the top sexist parade of MC full of violence and wrongdoing when you read this book".

There has been comparison with Kristen Ashley's Motorcycle Club (MC) books - I have 1 or 2 on my TBR but haven't read any yet - I keep hearing about engaging stories but also poor grammar and sloppy/no editing and I'm kind of torn about taking the plunge in actually reading them because the latter things mean a lot to me.   This book, a little shorter than a KA book and better edited, lured me because of the promise of engagement and curiosity did the rest.  So I bought it.

I don't usually like my heroes to be less than heroic.  Why then am I enjoying this book, where the hero is named "Horse" (yes, it's after the size of his dick) and is a violent criminal?  It is this question I'm trying to answer and so my rambles begin.

May Reads

on Paper/eBook

Let's Pretend this Never Happened by Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess) - B+.  If you've ever visited www.thebloggess.com you'll know what to expect here.  It's funny, with some poignant and moving bits too, but mostly it's just really funny.  You will probably need tissues - from laughing so hard - and people will look at you strangely if you read in public.  Also, very cool cover.

Lord of the Fading Lands (Tairen Soul #1) by CL Wilson - A-.  See my full review here.

Lady of Light and Shadows (Tairen Soul #2) by CL Wilson - A.  I don't want to say too much about the plots in the last books because I dont' want to spoil it for new readers.  But, if you read the first book and like/love it, you will love the rest I think.
The epic love story upon which the fate of the world hangs continues in this second book of the quintet.  Ellysetta has started to forge soul bonds with Rain and as their wedding draws closer, the Eld Mages step up their efforts to capture her.

Even better than the first book, I was forced into very late night reading because I just could not put this book down.  The last 100 or so pages are so packed full of drama and action that I just had to keep going until Rain and Ellysetta were safe. 

Fair Game by Patricia Briggs, narrated by Holter Graham

Why I read it:  I'm a fan of this series.

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  They say opposites attract. And in the case of werewolves Anna Latham and Charles Cornick, they mate. The son-and enforcer-of the leader of the North American werewolves, Charles is a dominant alpha. While Anna, an omega, has the rare ability to calm others of her kind.

Now that the werewolves have revealed themselves to humans, they can't afford any bad publicity. Infractions that could have been overlooked in the past must now be punished, and the strain of doing his father's dirty work is taking a toll on Charles.

Nevertheless, Charles and Anna are sent to Boston, when the FBI requests the pack's help on a local serial killer case. They quickly realize that not only the last two victims were werewolves-all of them were. Someone is targeting their kind. And now Anna and Charles have put themselves right in the killer's sights...

What worked for me (and what didn't): Well, first off, the blurb is wrong - not all of the victims were werewolves, some were humans and some were fae/half-fae.    The rest is okay though. :)

Starting around the time River Marked (Mercy Thompson book 6) finishes this is a clever, tightly plotted story, where the romance aspects between Charles and Anna are neatly interwoven between the investigating-the-serial-killer part.  I'd say that the romance aspect wasn't quite as much to the forefront as has been the case in other books, but it was definitely there and the rest of the story was so absorbing anyway that it was engrossing right from the start.  I kept finding excuses to listen to it - more housework, more cooking, taking the long way home! :)