I'm Over at AudioGals...

with a review of The Autumn Bride by Anne Gracie, narrated by Alison Larkin.

A bit of a mixed bag for me - see my full thoughts here.

After Hours by Cara McKenna

Why I read it:  I bought this book as soon as it came out but have only now got to it.

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  A dangerous infatuation with a rough and ready man…

Erin Coffey has been a nurse for years, but nothing’s prepared her for the physical and emotional demands of her new position. Needing to move closer to her dysfunctional family, she takes a dangerous job at Larkhaven Psychiatric Hospital, where she quickly learns that she needs protection—and she meets the strong, over-confident coworker who’s more than willing to provide it.

Kelly Robak is the type of guy that Erin has sworn she’d never get involved with. She’s seen firsthand, via her mess of a sister, what chaos guys like him can bring into a woman’s life. But she finds herself drawn to him anyway, even when he shows up at her door, not eager to take no for an answer.

What Erin finds even more shocking than Kelly’s indecent proposal is how much she enjoys submitting to his every command. But he can’t play the tough guy indefinitely. If they want to have more than just an affair, both will have to open up and reveal what they truly need.

What worked for me (and what didn't): My reading mojo has been missing the past week or so.  I can't really explain what happened.  I tried about 6 or 7 books and only got 10-20 pages in before switching to something else because I wasn't feeling it.  In the end, I picked up this one.  I enjoyed the book but I feel, in a case very much of "it's not you, it's me", I may have enjoyed it more had I been on a reading high at the time rather than in somewhat of a slump.  I found myself entirely engaged when reading but not inspired to pick the book up after having had to put it down for some reason (dinner, bed, etc.). Last week, books in general weren't doing it for me I'm afraid. So: all the caveats - if you read it at the right time, you will probably enjoy it even more than I did.  Moving on.

Lick Blog Tour - Interview with Kylie Scott

 

Waking up in Vegas was never meant to be like this.

Evelyn Thomas's plans for celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Las Vegas were big. Huge. But she sure as hell never meant to wake up on the bathroom floor with a hangover to rival the black plague, a very attractive half-naked tattooed man, and a diamond on her finger large enough to scare King Kong. Now if she could just remember how it all happened.

Today I'd like to welcome author Kylie Scott to the blog.  She's here to answer some questions about her new book Lick.  I don't normally do blog tours, but as you can tell from my review, this is a very special book.  **Also, look out for the giveaway details at the end of this post.**

I'm sure in your blog tour you will be asked a lot of questions about Evelyn and David but I wanted to focus today on one of the secondary characters who really stood out for me.  What can you tell me about Kaetrin?  She's not in the book all that much, but she's a total scene stealer.  

I know right? I think in a way Kaetrin really carried the book. It’s subtle, but it’s there.

Lick by Kylie Scott

Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher.  But (wait for it) this was also a part of my prize for winning the "name the band" competition.  (Actually, the name wasn't terribly original, the series was already called Stage Dive - I just piped up and said that would be an awesome band name).  The other part of my prize was that a secondary character in the book was named after me.  Kaetrin is an (awesome) (slightly slutty - but in a sex positive way) groupie with an AMAZING rack. LOLOLOL!    The author very kindly asked me to pick her hair colour and the colour of her dress for her second appearance in the book.  We had a lot of fun on Twitter with it.  I told her to go for broke - but please just make me hot!  (And she did, so: thank you Kylie!). She's not in the book very much and while I was tickled to see my name in print, that wasn't the reason I liked the book.  Fortunately, it turned out that it's a book I'm very happy to have my name in, even if Book Kaetrin is a bit of a skank (I say that with love).

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  Waking up in Vegas was never meant to be like this.

Evelyn Thomas’s plans for celebrating her twenty-first birthday in Las Vegas were big. Huge. But she sure as hell never meant to wake up on the bathroom floor with a hangover to rival the black plague, a very attractive half-naked tattooed man, and a diamond on her finger large enough to scare King Kong. Now if she could just remember how it all happened.

One thing is for certain, being married to rock and roll’s favourite son is sure to be a wild ride.

What worked for me (and what didn't): I'm a hero-centric reader but that doesn't mean I don't appreciate a good heroine.  I was actually pretty impressed with Evelyn.  She holds her own against celebrities and rock stars when she's out of her depth and in unfamiliar territory.  There was a certain feistiness to her which appealed very much to me.

June Round Up

on Paper/eBook

Like the Taste of Summer by Kaje Harper  - B+  This free online short is a little gem.  Jack thinks back to the summer he met Sean, some 28 years earlier and recounts how they got together. I actually enjoyed it all the more knowing that they'd made it and were still in love.

Taken by Him (Billionaire's Club #2) by Red Garnier - C  This erotic romance is very short (just over 80 pages) and at page 1 the couple have never before met, so it was always going to be a big ask for me to buy into the HEA.  I had the impression that the book doesn't take itself to seriously and the tone of the hero's OTT arrogance was, I thought, intended to be funny rather than insulting (as it may have been in a serious book or if a reader is in a serious mood perhaps).  The sex was very hot and Luke certainly had a massive turnaround from being a total manwhore to being a "you're-the-only-one-for-me-for-the-rest-of-my-life" guy.  I liked it, but there was something lacking in it for me. And I can even tell you where it was.  It was in Chapter 1, here:

Two hours later they were both a little too…merry.

Luke had seemed hesitant to drink first, but then he’d downed a whole beer within minutes and soon ordered more. They’d flowed into conversation like they’d met years ago, teasing back and forth.

Almost their entire getting to know each other is contained in that two hour period which occurs off page.  For me to really root for them, I needed to see their connection rather than just be told it existed.

As a fun, sexy, erotic short, it works well, as a romance, I could have used a bit more.