Lovegames by M. Jules Aedin

Why I read it:  After reading the wonderful Paper Planes, I was keen to try and repeat the experience with the next book in this (extremely loosely linked) series.

What it's about:  Rockstar Keith Black and actor Adam Cruce are lovers who invite a third occasionally for a bit of fun.  Their respective careers keep them apart and their arrangement is that they can have sex with other people, just be safe.  Part of the arrangement comes out of Keith's bipolar disorder (disclaimer- I accepted that this was what Keith needed in the context of the book but I don't necessarily think that all people with bipolar disorder would feel the same way).  At Charlotte's Pride concert/fair/thingy, both Adam and Keith separately meet up with Sebastian Keane, a 21 year old college student who is slight and short and wears glitter eye makeup.  Both Adam and Keith are smitten and they invite Sebastian (Baz) back to their hotel for sex.  After spending all night and the next day with Baz, Adam and Keith are eager to repeat the experience, even though none of their thirds have ever been invited back.  Baz visits Keith and Adam in LA and they spend a few days together but are outed by the media which creates problems for all three.  All three want the relationship to continue permanently but all three have their own fears about coming out and saying so.

February Reads

On Paper/eBook

Fish & Chips by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux - C+/B-  Once again, a strange read for me.  I'm quite conflicted about this series.  I wonder if it's partly because I keep expecting there to be a lot more sex than there is.  Other books by these two authors are much more full of sexytimes and maybe I went in thinking this would be more the same.  It is actually structured more like a "mainstream" RS novel, but with 2 boys instead of a girl and a guy.  That said, the suspense plot didn't make a great deal of sense for me and the ending was anticlimatic. In the end, I felt it was more about a way to get these two guys onboard a cruiseship and pretending to be lovers rather than anything organic.  The relationship between Ty and Zane progressed, with one of them admitting his true feelings and both of them in a better place emotionally.  Again, I enjoyed the second half better than the first as this is where the "emotional meat" of the story is.  If all of the book had been more like that, I would have been much happier.   I decided to have a break before I read Divide & Conquer which is the latest (and, I believe the last?) in the series.

The Commitment by Dan Savage B+ This book charts the course of Dan Savage and Terry Miller's journey to a marriage ceremony in Vancouver around their 10 year anniversary.  There is a lot of discussion about marriage equality and family and it is delivered with Savage's trademark humour.  I enjoyed it very much.  My only real quibbles were with some names and facts which seemed to have changed from the previous book (which were easily noticeable to me as I read them back to back).  For instance, Dan's nephew was "Mars" in The Kid but in The Commitment he's "Thor".  I get that even in a memoir some names will be changed to protect the innocent, but I think there should be consistency or an explanation in the text for the change.  I can't help it.  I notice details like that.    I saw an obituary for Dan Savage's mother on line and it referred to various family members including Thor, so I guess that is his real name and it may be that the earlier name was because he was only a toddler when the first book was written?  The obit also had Terry's last name as different to Miller which threw me a bit.  My curiosity is piqued but as it is most unlikely I will ever have the privilege of being actual friends with Dan and Terry (which I would love), I will probably never know.

Glomming on Megan Hart

Mandi from Smexy Books recently discovered Megan Hart.  In sharing the love, I was inspired to do a re-read of 3 of my favourites of hers and read the other 2 books which had been languishing on my TBR.

Dirty - A    (re-read)

This is what happened...

I met him at the candy store.
He turned and smiled at me and I was surprised enough to smile back. This was not a children's candy store, mind you--this was the kind of place you went to buy expensive imported chocolate truffles for your boss's wife because you felt guilty for having sex with him when you were both at a conference in Milwaukee.
Hypothetically speaking, of course.
I've been hit on plenty of times, mostly by men with little finesse who thought what was between their legs made up for what they lacked between their ears.
Sometimes I went home with them anyway, just because it felt good to want and be wanted, even if it was mostly fake.
The problem with wanting is that it's like pouring water into a vase full of stones. It fills you up before you know it, leaving no room for anything else. I don't apologize for who I am or what I've done in--or out--of bed.
I have my job, my house and my life, and for a long time I haven't wanted anything else.
Until Dan. Until now. (Goodreads blurb)

Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue by Stephanie Laurens, narrated by Matthew Brenher WARNING: It's Ranty

Why I Listened: That's a question I asked myself numerous times throughout the book.   Seriously though, I reviewed it for the Speaking of Audiobooks column at AAR but my review (rant) is just too long for the column.  So, with permission, I'm posting it here.  Read on at your peril.

What it's about:  Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue is the first book in the Cynster Brides series by Australian author Stephanie Laurens.  Heather Cynster, daughter of Martin and Celia, is abducted from a soiree in London.  The abduction is witnessed by Viscount Breckenridge, a not-friend of hers. They don’t get along – he thinks she’s too young for him (there’s a 10 year age gap) and keeps his distance, she thinks he considers her a child.  Breckenridge follows and tries to rescue her but Heather has discovered that the kidnappers wanted only a “Cynster daughter” not specifically Heather and given that she’s being treated well (they hired a maid for her, for “countenance”) she thinks it is best to stay in their clutches and extract information about the villain behind the scheme so as to protect her cousins and sisters.  Breckenridge goes along with it and follows, keeping watch.  If that sounds like a flimsy excuse for a plot to you, it would be because it is.  Given the amount of time Heather spends with the kidnappers, she actually finds out precious little about them and even when she does, it is in brief conversations and DAYS are going by.  She’s not frightened or in any way traumatised – it’s the most pathetic kidnapping in the history of the activity.

January Reads

On Paper/eBook

The list this month is lamentably short.  Partly it was holidays but a greater part were two books which I did not really enjoy and which I spent too much time with - the less interested I am in a book, the more excuses I find not to read (oh, look! TV!  or cleaning!  or sometimes, if it's really bad, Root Canal!)  and the longer it takes me to read it.

Cover Me by Catherine Mann - DNF - I could rant but frankly, I've spent enough time on this book already.  It was silly.  It had a promising first chapter but after that, it was just silly.  The premise had so many holes in it I could have driven a truck through it and I just could not suspend my disbelief enough.  But, you know, that's me.  If you liked the book, more power to you.  There are plenty of people who did apparently.  I'm just not one of them.

Hot Zone by Catherine Mann - D+/C-  see my full review (if you dare) here.