Showing posts with label Samantha Ann King. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samantha Ann King. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

June Reads

on Paper/eBook

NB This review first appeared in the ARRA June newsletter which is distributed to ARRA members. 

Gateway to Heaven by Beth Kery - B- First published in 2008, I picked this up as a Kindle freebie recently.  Christian Lasher is a rock star who's looking to take his career in a different direction. He meets art teacher and sculptor, Megan Shreve and is instantly captivated by her.  She's different to anyone he's ever met before and she doesn't know who he is.  Because he doesn't think she'd go for the "rock god" thing, he keeps it from her so she can get to know him without the hype.  Megan is over protected by her sister Hilary, who gives her all the dirty gossip about Christian PDQ.  When Megan was 3 years old, she was abused by the husband of her daycare provider and even though she can't remember those events, they have affected her ever since.  Hence her sister's over protectiveness. But Megan isn't as fragile as Hilary believes and Christian wants her to chart her own course and not be held in kid gloves.  There is a bit of the on again/off again between Christian and Megan - a few times there I was kind of surprised that she was apologising - especially when it was Christian being the ass.  There is kind of early shades of Bared To You and similar books in the dynamic between them - although, not quite as obsessive.  I enjoyed the chemistry between Megan and Christian and found this one an easy, fast read.  At the end, even though I believed in their HEA, I would have liked to have more about what their lives would be like - what did she end up doing with her career etc.  I do like Beth Kery's writing and I think this is one of her earlier works.  It does kind of show - I think her writing has become more polished since then. But, I did like this one.

Beginnings and Ends by Suzanne Brockmann - see my full review here. The short version?  Very disappointing.

 







A Different Kind of Forever by Dee Ernst - B  I picked this one up after seeing a positive review of it at Dear Author .  This is an older woman/younger man story - Diane is 45, divorced and a mother of 3 teenage girls.  Michael "Mickey Flynn" Carlucci is 26 and a rock star - singer/songwriter, keyboard and guitar player in the band NinetySeven.  Michael was all but raised by his older sisters and in Diane he has found someone who finally compares favourably with them - his womanly ideal.  

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Sharing Hailey by Samantha Ann King

Why I read it: I picked this one up at NetGalley because I liked the blurb.

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  Hailey Anderson's deep, dark secret? She's been madly in lust with her overprotective brother's two best friends for years. Gorgeous woodworking artist Mark Allen and sexy doctor Tony Adamo have no idea they star in her fantasies every night.

After a nasty breakup with her abusive boyfriend, Hailey's looking for a little distance. Headed for a two-week Hawaiian vacation with her brother and his hot friends, Hailey can't wait to feast her eyes on Mark's and Tony's rock-hard, ocean-slick bodies. Even if she can't touch.


But instead of treating her like their little sister, Mark and Tony have a surprising proposition: a monogamous ménage à trois. The three of them—and no one else. Both men want Hailey and have agreed to share her. The red-hot reality is even better than the forbidden fantasy. Until Hailey's ex threatens their newfound happiness…

What worked for me (and what didn't): There was much about this book I loved.  The connection between Tony, Mark and Hailey was clear from the start - they have been best friends for many years.  Even though in the blurb they're described as her brother's best friends, really, they are hers also.  Living in the same city, they hang out regularly - although less so since her relationship with Daniel began.   The book begins shortly after her breakup with Daniel.  It took her a long time to realise he was bad for her, but when he started getting violent - pushing her, shaking her and leaving bruises, she called it quits.