August Reads

I thought I'd try something new and post my reads for the month.  Let's see how long it lasts!!

On paper/ebook

 Some Girls Bite by Chloe Neill - B

It felt like part one of a story rather than a whole book but I did like the story and the style and I want to know more about Merit and Ethan so books 2 and 3 are on their way to me.

Aint Too Proud to Beg by Susan Donovan - C

I've had this one on my TBR for a while.  It was a bit disappointing overall.  Okay but not great.  Knock Me Off My Feet was great, so was Public Displays of Affection, but this one?  Not so much for me.

The Shy Bride by Lucy Monroe - B-/C+ 

I like the way Ms. Monroe writes her categories.  This one could have benefited from a little more exposition I thought.

Midnight Angel by Lisa Marie Rice - B-

Probably the best of the Midnight trilogy, for my money.

Take Your Pick by Jasmine Haynes - B-

Saucy, sexy novella but it lacked something in the character development area.

Shades of Gray by Brooke McKinley - A
My pick for the month.  A great book. Highly recommended.

Love Bites by Lynsey Sands - C+

I was expecting funnier I guess but an okay read overall.  I might pick up others in the series and give them a go.

Masked by Moonlight by Nancy Gideon - C+

I found this one very hard to grade.  I liked Max but his character was a bit schizophrenic in that he was either this suave "Roarke" type character or a frightened boy and I didn't quite get how they fit together.  CeeCee was annoying and the plot had holes so I'm still uncertain about picking up the next 2 in the series.  Having said that, it was strangely compelling and I didn't have any trouble finishing it. Hmm.

Ex Appeal by Cari Quinn - C-

Okay short, but really?  Meh.

More by Sloan Parker - B

I enjoyed the relationship between the 3 men but thought the suspense plot (while necessary to the story, over the top and the villian too one-dimensional.

And Call Me In The Morning by Willa Okati - B+

A really good m/m romance - heavy on the romance and characters while not lacking in, ahem, other departments (*wink wink*).  Thanks for the rec Kris!

Beyond the Night by Joss Ware - B

Interesting premise and marked my reading return to paranormals from a lengthy hiatus.  

Embrace the Night Eternal by Joss Ware - B

I liked Simon and the Falling Creek community certainly got me thinking.  I'm not sure I buy the Atlantis thing though...  I have book 3 and plan to read it one of these days.

Gay Best Friend by Kim Dare - C+

Okay short. I didn't really get the D/s though - I thought it would have been a better story (for its length) without it.  Otherwise, it needed a longer format, IMO.

Priority One by Stephani Hecht - B-

Good short but it felt like the middle was missing.  We jumped from first meeting to HEA - I know there was a middle but it wasn't in the book, sadly.  I would have liked to read more about this couple - another chapter or two would have made a big difference here.

On Audio

Manhunting by Jenny Crusie and narrated by Renee Raudman  - B+/A-  

Highly recommended

Anyone but You by Jenny Crusie and narrated by Susan Ericksen - B

Great book but I kept hearing Eve Dallas (Susan narrates all the in death books) and that threw me a little out of the story from time to time.

Breathing Room by Susan Elizabeth Phillips and narrated by Kate Fleming (aka Anna Fields). - A

An excellent book, excellently presented. This was my first SEP read and it holds a soft spot for me.  I love Ren Gage!!  Plus the banter between Isabel and Ren was made even better by this great narrator.

Fast Women by Jenny Crusie narrated by Sandra Burr - B+

Great story - that scene where Nell realises she's slept with everyone at the table except for Tim's new wife is still hilarious.  Plus there's, "brace yourself Bridget". Cracks me up.

The Search by Nora Roberts narrated by Tanya Eby - B+/A-

New to me narrator - she's really good.  I've read the story too and not all that long ago - a great book, narrated really well to add more to the story.  I do like Simon!

Sony Readers move Down Under. Colour me happy!!

I interrupt normal transmission to spread the love that Sony has finally (finally!) decided to sell and support their Readers in Australia.  Apparently, they will be for sale from around $229AUD for the Pocket and $299AUD for the Touch from Borders, Myer and other retailers.  Oh joy!!  Just look at that pretty pink one!  *sigh*  I already have a Sony PRS-700 and while I'm happy with it, the screen clarity can leave a bit to be desired. The Pearl eInk screens on the newer models are, I'm told, much better.  I can't wait to test drive one in a shop and if they are as good as I hear, I'll be picking up a new baby and keeping the old one around as a spare.

It appears it's true, good things DO come to those who wait.

Thanks to Book Bee and Book Thingo for the heads up.
 
Ahh. Today's a good day.

Shades of Gray by Brooke McKinley

Why I read it:  I've had this one in my TBR for quite a while now, having picked it up as soon as the review by Sarah Franz went up at DA - her recommendations are (mostly) gold for me.  It came fast on the heels of Zero at the Bone which I read first.  The storylines sounded similar and I didn't want the two books to "bleed" into each other - so I waited a while.  And then I forgot. 

What its about: Miller Sutton is an FBI agent on the edge of burnout who wants to nail a drug lord by the name of Hinestroza.  He's been watching Danny Butler, a cog in Hinestroza's wheel for 9 months and when the book begins, Danny has just been arrested - after a routine traffic stop, a gun was found in the glove box of his car, breaching his parole and Miller is leaning on him to roll over on Hinestroza.  Danny reluctantly agrees and it is Miller's task to debrief Danny and prepare him for giving evidence, protect him so he stays alive until the trial and then pass him onto the hands of the US Marshalls for the Witness Protection Programme.   While spending so much time with Danny, Miller discovers that Danny's much more than just a criminal.  But it's not as easy as falling in love - there's a psycho assassin (Madrigal) after him on Hinestroza's orders and, if he lives that long, once Danny goes into WitSec he'll never see Miller again.

What worked for me:I really enjoyed this book.  It was gritty and realistic (for the most part); it was a full length novel which meant I got a fully fleshed out story; the prose was lyrical in places and I bought into the emotion of the tale which (because this is a romance, after all) finished with a satisfying and believable HEA. 

Speaking of lyrical, here's an example of what I mean:

He understood the impact of his question, his words falling like stones into a shadowy lake - on the surface things return to normal but in the deep the landscape is forever altered.

I liked watching Miller develop and change throughout the course of the book while staying true to his basic character.  He started the book heading toward burnout in his job, deep in the closet and trying to make himself conform to his idea of who he thought he should be.  I liked the irony that his job, which included interrogating suspects to get to the truth of matters meant that he was becoming increasingly unable to hide from himself.  I liked watching him begin to come to grips with being gay and sharing his emotions with Danny and those around him. 

Miller's voice broke and he lowered his head, pressing his thumbs into his closed eyelids, exhausted by the effort of giving voice to what was private within him.

I liked Danny too.  I wondered how I would, but I did.  Ms. McKinley took me on a journey where I saw how Danny had fallen into something he couldn't get out of.  I liked how she explained the ambiguous nature of his relationship with Hinestroza - the loyalty to him because Hinestroza "cared" for him in a way he hadn't experienced before - things like making sure he was fed and clothed (it was a kind of messed up father/son thing I think) and the fear because Hinestroza was a very very bad man who didn't blink an eye when he ordered someone tortured and murdered to make a point - and Danny always knew that whatever "care" Hinestroza showed him, Hinestroza wouldn't hesitate to have him killed if he thought he had a reason.
And, I liked this:

"It's like this old patchwork quilt my momma used to have.  It came from her grandma or maybe her great-grandma.  I can't remember, anyway, it was sort of a family scrapbook, I guess.  Each piece on that quilt meant something. And some of those pieces were the damn ugliest things you've ever seen - old brown corduory worn to the nub or stained pieces of cotton you woudn't want to use as a rag to clean your bathroom floor. But some of the pieces were so beautiful they almost hurt my eyes to look at when I was a kid.  White silk from a wedding dress or the red velvet from a bady's first Christmas coat." Ellis paused, perching his glasses back on his nose.  "That's the best you can hope for, Danny. That your life turns out like that patchwork quilt. That you can add some bright, sparkling pieces to the dirty, stained ones you 've got so far. That in the end, the bright patches might take up more space on your quilt than the dark ones."  Ellis stared at Danny, making sure he was listening. "That's the point."

A word about the sex.  The book has sex scenes - I'd rate them along the same lines as Eve/Roarke in the In Death books or many of the other M/F books around - it's just that the scenes were between two men.  

And finally, (and for those that know me, this next statement will come as a surprise) -  I also liked that the book didn't end with absolutely everything tied with a red ribbon.  Usually, I'm not like that.  But this was a different kind of book - it was about things NOT being perfect and therefore, the ending fit.  Don't get me wrong - we DO get a HEA but it's clear that both men are still "works in progress" - I did believe that they would make it for the long haul and I was very glad of it.

What didn't (work for me):It's not so much that it didn't work but that I questioned whether it would happen - would Miller really be allowed to stay on the investigation when he was clearly getting into a personal relationship with an informant?  Would he really be basically left alone with Danny for so long? Wouldn't there be a team of people?  Similarly, the stuff with Madrigal at the end was a little unbelievable - but, I was willing to go with all of it for the sake of the story.  I guess because I found the rest of the story to be so realistic, those things stood out to me.  But, most stories have something "unreal" in them and these things weren't that big a deal and they didn't affect my enjoyment of the book.

What else?  I'm glad I waited to read this one.  I enjoyed Zero at the Bone but, by the end, I was having trouble suspending my disbelief and the book's ending was like a Status Quo song - it kept going too long.  The plot of the two books were similar - in ZatB, it was a hit man whose job was to kill a witness and ended up protecting him instead and they fell in love and had to work out a way to be together (alive) by the end of the book to get their HEA.  This one, is the FBI agent and the witness/informant but both have one character who's a "good guy" and the other is morally - ambiguous? corrupt? - something anyway. In both books the author's have the challenge of making the "bad" half of the couple sympathetic so that the reader roots for the HEA.  And in both, the characters need to get out of a seemingly impossible situation to both stay alive at the end AND be together.  Having read both books, I'm glad I read ZatB first - because SoG was much better IMO.  It would have been a big let down to read ZatB second because those challenges, I thought, were met much more convincingly in SoG - it made sense that an FBI agent would try to turn a member of a drug lord's organisation to get a conviction against the kingpin.  D, in ZatB was a hitman "with a heart" - there's just a necessary suspension of disbelief you have to buy into to go with the story.  Some of it was trite and cliched and it was too much for my WTF radar.  That's not to say that I didn't like it - I did (especially Jack's sense of humour), but SoG was better.  Much.  Also, Danny, while having been a criminal since getting sucked into Hinestroza's vortex at age 18 was more sympathetic to me.  He wasn't a murderer and he (somewhat surprisingly) didn't do drugs - he was a courier.  Yes, he was a bad man - he'd been to jail 3 times, he contributed to  the addiction of many and no doubt to some/many(?) deaths due to his part in the chain of distribution.  There's no backing away from that in the book - it never tries to paint him as anything other than what he is.  But what we do get is the extra.  We get the backstory and the explanation (but not an excuse).  We find out other things which paint a rounder picture.  To use the book's own words, we get to see his "quilt" and it's not all black and evil and skanky.  I wanted him to be a better man and by the end of the book, he not only wanted that too, he'd found a path to it.  He was still struggling and would always be a convicted felon who'd worked for a drug lord.  He'd always have the scars on his body and his conscience but he found a way to be more than that too - what had stopped him in the past was the belief that he never could be anything better and Miller gave to him the ability to see that he could.     

So, while I'd recommend both books, if someone were only able to choose one, I'd say get Shades of Gray.

Grade:  A

All I Ever Wanted by Kristan Higgins

I've been a bit distracted by Christian and Olli *swoon* from Verbotene Liebe lately (thanks Kris *shakes fist*) and much of my internet time has been taken up in drooling watching them on YouTube.  However, I have decided enough is enough and I should post something.  I remembered that I've been meaning to review this wonderful book - so, my apologies for being a slacker and here it is.

Why I read it:  I picked it up at NetGalley and I've enjoyed all but the last one of Kristan Higgins' books (the previous release - the Next Best Thing- I didn't read - it sounded too similar to some of her previous books and the relationship was between the heroine and her dead husband's brother which squicked me out a little so I gave it a pass).  However, this relationship is between two people who have not previously related to one another and I do so enjoy Ms. Higgins' sense of humour so I was happy to read it.  I'm glad I did.  It rocked.

What it's about:  (Here's the blurb from the author's website) "One happily-ever-after rocking chair…
And no sign of any forthcoming babies to rock in ol’ Georgebury, Vermont. For Callie Grey, turning thirty means coming to grips with the fact that her boss (and five-week fling) is way overdue in his marriage proposal. And way off track, because Mark has suddenly announced his engagement to the company’s new Miss Perfect. If that isn’t bad enough, her mom decides to throw her a 3-0 birthday bash in the family funeral home.
Bad goes to worse when she stirs up a relationship with the town’s most eligible — yet not so warm and fuzzy — veterinarian, Ian McFarland, in order to flag Mark’s attention. So Ian’s more comfortable with animals… So he’s formal, orderly and just a bit tense. The ever-friendly, fun-loving and spontaneous Callie decides it’s time for Ian to get a personality makeover. But, dang — if he doesn’t shock the heck out of her, she might actually fall for Vermont’s unlikeliest eligible bachelor…"

What worked for me:  Quite a bit actually. This book was funny and smart and had quite a few laugh out loud moments.  There was even a part where I cried ( - but I'm not saying anything more about it - no spoilers here!)

I laughed at the description of Fleur who "due to three weeks spent in England during college" spoke with a varying British accent.   I like the way that Ms. Higgins can draw a sharp picture of a secondary character with such quirks.   I enjoyed the Vermont setting and other secondary characters too, especially Noah, Callie's grandfather.  Plus, there's a dog, Bowie.  (And, Bowie's still with us at the end of the book - in fact, it looks like he got a little 'romance' himself with the vet's sexy bitch - and by bitch I am of course referring to a female dog).

I liked Callie quite a bit. She's the sort of lady I'd like to know.  Funny, kind and enthusiastic. I was amused by Callie's inner voices - instead of an angel and a demon on her shoulder she had a vapid Betty Boop and her inner Michelle Obama who gave her good advice and told her to kick Mark to the kerb.

Mark was a piece of work - a real user -  but Callie knew it most of the time and worked hard on getting over him.  I was a bit worried near the end that she would cave and I don't think I would have let him get as close as she did (I disapproved a tad) but she saw through him (lucky for her - grrr).

Ian however, was lovely.  While I would have liked more of him (see below) he was a perfect foil for Callie who had to be in everyone's business and try and fix everyone's problems - he "saw" her and understood her quite quickly even though he was very different to her.  He's much more reserved and shy/quiet.  He doesn't want her to fix everything in his life and it was interesting to watch Callie struggle with that.  She did bring him out of his shell a little but he was always himself.  The character growth is really all Callie's.

It's been a little while since I read the book, but I think the blurb is wrong.  Callie didn't go out with Ian to get Mark's attention or make Mark jealous.  She did start off with the idea of going out with Ian to help her get over Mark (but that's not using) and after a while, she realised that she wanted to be with Ian and bugger Mark (yay!). 

What didn't work for me: My "beef" with Ms. Higgins' books probably stems from the fact that they are all written in first person POV and the typical Higgins' hero is the "strong silent type".  Ian was more communicative than previous heroes but I would still have liked more of him.  There are other first person books I've read where I've felt I knew the hero well enough and this has usually been done in dialogue where the hero speaks for himself.  (eg, Outlander - I felt like I knew Jamie Fraser pretty well by the end of the book, notwithstanding that the story was told (in bk1 at least) wholly in the Claire's POV.  Not that I had enough of him mind - is that even possible? - but just that I felt I had a handle on what makes him tick.)  I kind of had to fill in the blanks myself with Ian - I had to imagine some of his motivations and thoughts because I just didn't get enough of him.    (Having said that, the hero in Catch of the Day (Malone) was almost completely a cipher so Ian was a vast improvement.)  I do love Ms. Higgins' writing style and her humour and she always sucks me in to the emotion of the story but I want more of the hero!!  This was better but still not quite enough. I'm greedy I guess!  

I'm not sure the "happily-ever-after chair" added much to the story, for my money.  It was kind of important at the beginning but that part of the story fizzled a bit at the end IMO.

Also, I could easily have taken a bit more of Alejandro (Ian's brother - oh my! *fans self*).

What else? Another plus with this book is that the love scenes didn't entirely stop at the bedroom door this time - it was by no means explicit but I did enjoy the extra.  I'd felt it was lacking in earlier books.  Kind of like icing, you know?

Also (and totally unrelated to the above) the turkey scene was hilarious.  I can totally see this book working as rom/com movie.

Grade:  B+   A really fun contemporary romance.

*you might have noticed that there's a lack of quotes from the book in the review - that's because something squirly happened and all my notes disappeared from my Reader.  I had, like 2 pages to choose from but ... gone.  Frankly, I didn't have time to re-read the book to get quotes for the review.  Sorry.

Recent Holiday Reads

I've been on holiday and I got a bit of reading done (although holidays in our house usually means more family time and less reading time) and in the spirit of actually putting something on the blog for July, I thought I'd post a few thoughts about the books I've read in the past week or two. 

Nothing but Trouble by Rachel Gibson

I really liked the previous book, True Love and Other Disasters - a return to the Seattle Chinooks Hockey team and what I like best about Rachel Gibson's writing, so I had high hopes for this one.  Unfortunately, while it was okay, it wasn't my favourite  - it was one of those books where the font was large and the margins wide and there weren't actually that many words on the page - it was easy to read pretty quickly.  I liked Mark Bressler and I would have liked to have spent more time with him but the book kind of glossed over everything.  Plus, I wanted to know what happened after - was Chelsea going to pursue acting in Seattle  or just be Mrs. Mark? - was she going to get her surgery?  These questions were left unanswered and I felt like the whole thing was a bit rushed and superficial.  If it was food, I would say it had little nutritional value - sweet, but leaves you wanting something meatier.  C

Savor the Moment by Nora Roberts

I wanted to like this one more than I did.  That said, even an "average" Nora Roberts is better than "average" for others I think.  The problem I think was that there wasn't much conflict.  Usually, what pushes the story along is boy meets girl, boy loses girl/there is a threat to the relationship and then there's the HEA.  Well, in this one, for me, there wasn't much of a threat to the relationship.  It was all happy families and while I enjoyed the banter between the characters and the writing style was as good as ever, the plot let this one down a bit.  I'm wondering what Ms. Roberts will do for the 4th book (to which I am avidly looking forward) for Mal and Parker.  They seem to have been paired up by everyone else but them so far even though there is heat between them.  I'm hoping there will be a conflict I can get my teeth into like in the first 2 books and that this series will end with a bang.  I'd give this offering a C+

Mastered by Love by Stephanie Laurens

I picked up the Australian release (which I thought had a nicer cover but I couldn't find a picture during my browsing so this is the one you get) at Target when I was away and was pleasantly suprised by this one.  The last few offerings from Laurens have been a bit ho-hum for me.  Too much saying the same thing. In different ways. In short sentences. Over and over. Again. Repetitively.   Maybe I'd had just enough of a break between her stories to enjoy this one.  No, on second thought, this was just a better book.  I liked it so much better than the previous few I'd read (including the 2 of the Black Cobra books I listened to on audio).  It wasn't quite a return to the heights of Devil's Bride but it was up there.  Thinking back, the other books I've read of hers lately all had the trope where the hero didn't want to admit his feelings to his lady because of some lame and weirdass belief that would make him somehow vulnerable.  Frankly, I'm over that as a plot device (if I ever bought into it).  Refreshingly, this one is where the family history is that the Varisey's don't love - aren't capable of it (Oh noes! I'm channelling Laurens!).  And, while that's (of course), a load of old cobblers, the hero believed it and so did everyone else in the book's world and it wasn't that he didn't want to or couldn't admit it once he recognised it.  So, extra points for that.    I quite liked Royce and Minerva and I really enjoyed this book.  B

Something About You by Julie James

I was lucky enough to win this one from a Dear Author giveaway some time ago and I finally got around to reading it on the weekend.  I read it very quickly - but not for the same reasons as Nothing but Trouble thankfully.  This one's a winner.  I think I'd read so many glowing reviews of this book that it actually put me off reading it for a while.  I'm happy to say that the reviews were right.  It read like a romantic comedy with a touch of action/suspense, the hero was all dark, brooding good looks (yum!) and the heroine was NOT (hooray) TSTL and didn't go down any dark alleys alone or decide to solve the crime herself.   Somehow, Ms. James crafted a book where the heroine could be smart and not put herself deliberately in harm's way to move the story along.  Yay!  The snappy dialogue was great - I'd like to watch the movie.  I really would.  I'm also glad she turned up the heat level in this one - previous books we've been left outside the bedroom door and we got inside in this one - while it wasn't explicit there was a satisfying amount of heat and I liked this aspect much better than the earlier books.  I'm looking forward to her next one that's for sure.  B+

Life After Joe by Harper Fox

Okay, I'm officially outing myself here and publicly stating that I read and enjoy m/m romance.  This is one. And it's good.

Set in contemporary  England, Matthew is trying hard to get over his ex -Joe - who left him to be with a woman (horrors!) (after carrying on an affair with her for like 2 years - the slut) and is on a path of self destruction - drinking, taking pills, flunking out of medical school and having reckless (and sometimes public) sex with any bloke around.   He finally hits rock bottom and this is witnessed by Aaron - a sexy oil rig worker. Suffice to say that they get together and Aaron helps Matthew make the climb back to happiness.  Aaron has demons of his own though and Matthew is left wondering who "Rosie" is and whether Aaron will do to him what Joe did.  Joe, the scumbag makes an appearance at the end of the book trying to again have his cake and eat it too and I was soooo grateful that Matthew didn't let himself get sucked in again.  This story is told from Matt's POV which makes the confusion about who Rosie is totally understandable.  The answer was unexpected (at least to me) but made total sense.  I liked Aaron a lot and I liked Matthew too and I really felt for these characters - the author's use of words put me right there.  I "got" the dark place that Matthew was in at the beginning (anyone who's been through a bad breakup probably would I guess) and I liked the poignancy of this sweet story.  I'm looking forward to more from this author. If I had a complaint, it would be that the book finished a bit quickly - I'd have liked a little more. (Plus, I didn't quite buy that Matthew would have made it onto the rig - too much security, but I went with it for the sake of the story.) B+