Ten Tiny Breaths by K.A. Tucker

Why I read it:  I bought this New Adult book a little while back and finally decided to open it up and see what was inside.

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  Kacey Cleary’s whole life imploded four years ago in a drunk-driving accident. Now she’s working hard to bury the pieces left behind—all but one. Her little sister, Livie. Kacey can swallow the constant disapproval from her born-again aunt Darla over her self-destructive lifestyle; she can stop herself from going kick-boxer crazy on Uncle Raymond when he loses the girls’ college funds at a blackjack table. She just needs to keep it together until Livie is no longer a minor, and then they can get the hell out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

But when Uncle Raymond slides into bed next to Livie one night, Kacey decides it’s time to run. Armed with two bus tickets and dreams of living near the coast, Kacey and Livie start their new lives in a Miami apartment complex, complete with a grumpy landlord, a pervert upstairs, and a neighbor with a stage name perfectly matched to her chosen “profession.” But Kacey’s not worried. She can handle all of them. What she can’t handle is Trent Emerson in apartment 1D.

Kacey doesn’t want to feel. She doesn’t. It’s safer that way. For everyone. But sexy Trent finds a way into her numb heart, reigniting her ability to love again. She starts to believe that maybe she can leave the past where it belongs and start over. Maybe she’s not beyond repair.

But Kacey isn’t the only one who’s broken. Seemingly perfect Trent has an unforgiveable past of his own; one that, when discovered, will shatter Kacey’s newly constructed life and send her back into suffocating darkness.

What worked for me (and what didn't): This is a hard book to say much about because the plot hangs on one thing and it's either going to work for you or it won't.  I think, overall, it was too melodramatic for me.  I liked Trent and Kacey together but the big reveal cast a whole new light on what had gone before and it left me feeling a bit strange.

Breathe by Kirsten Ashley

Why I read it:  I bought this one a while back and I decided to finish the series (so far) as a little reading treat.

What it's about: (from Goodreads)  In order to protect a father he does not respect, in Lady Luck, we learned that good cop Chace Keaton went bad, sacrificing his career and his future. But when the local police department's secrets are revealed and the wife he's forced to marry is murdered, Chace finds himself the town of Carnal's hero. Knowing how deep in the mud he was forced to sink, Chace feels he'll never get clean. The quiet, content future he envisioned of the love a good woman with whom he could build a family was now beyond his reach. The only thing he can do is find his wife's murderer.

But he isn't the only one looking.

While searching for new leads, he runs into Faye Goodknight, the town's quiet, shy, pretty librarian. Chace has long since had his eye on what could possibly be the town's last remaining virgin but he has also long since given up hope he could make her his. Faye is pure and clean and Chace refuses to dirty her with his sordid past.

Pure and clean Faye may be, but when the shy librarian is forced to go head to head with the man who she's had a crush on since he hit her hometown, Chace finds Faye is full of surprises. And he doesn't know what to do with her.

What worked for me (and what didn't):  To be honest it took me a little while to get into this one.  I felt my reading mojo was missing initially and I was getting too distracted by Twitter.  But, by about 1/3 in, I felt I had hit my straps and things were looking up. By the end, I had mixed feelings. I enjoyed the romance but the subplot involving the Elite was too opaque for me and the parts involving the children mixed with so much cheese as to render me lactose intolerant.

A Tale of Two A**holes, or: What a difference female agency makes

I recently listened to a book with an asshole hero and, around the same time, read another with a similar type of male lead.  Though there were problems with both, one of the books worked much better for me than the other.     The main reason I disliked the first book was that I could not like the hero.  But in both books, the hero is  an asshole.  So: why did I like one and not other?  This post is the result of my mental ramblings on the topic.  And it all comes down to female agency.

Book 1 was Fever (Breathless #2) by Maya Banks.   This author seems like a lovely lady from what I can tell from Twitter. My opinion of this book is in no way an opinion of her.  She tends to be a hit or miss author for me.  I loved Sweet Surrender and I enjoyed Rush, the first book in the Breathless series quite a bit.  But Fever was not a success.  While lots of people loved Fever (which is fine because Vegemite), it didn't work for me.

The second book was Tangled by Emma Chase.  Ms. Chase is a new author but I enjoyed her writing style and the humour of the book very much. (and again, just because I thought Drew was an ass, doesn't mean I think she is. Just to be clear).

The two books are very different in tone.  But they have in common that the male protagonist is a jerk.  I discussed Drew a fair bit in my review of Tangled. As the book is told from his point of view, we are steeped in Drew from start to finish. 

Fever is told in third person with the POV shifting between the two main characters.  But, Fever is almost always in the male gaze so our hero, Jace Crestwell is the most prominent character in the book by a factor of about a million.

Defiance by Stephanie Tyler

Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher. I like New Adult and I liked Motorcycle Man and Reaper's Property.  I liked Beyond Shame.  So, this one, combining a motorcycle club, a post apocalyptic world and young adult protagonists looked promising.

What it's about: (from Goodreads) Rebelling against her legacy as the MC's princess, Tru Tennyson escaped the ruthless, male-dominated culture of the Defiance motorcycle club. Three years later, her newfound freedom is ripped away, thanks to a massive hybrid storm that killed millions. Now, in the post-Chaos world of semi-darkness and near-total anarchy where gangs rule, she discovers the dangerous world of Defiance may be the one thing that can keep her safe.

Tru is at the MC's mercy when she's dragged back to her former home … and to the only man she's ever pictured a future with. Caspar is the bastard son of the club's leader, her safe haven when life got rough — and her onetime lover the night she left. When Tru refuses to trade sex for power and be claimed by a rival club leader, she also dares to announce she wants Caspar instead, throwing the MC into turmoil.

Tru's brazen revolt could start a gang war and destroy the club from within. Now both Tru and the MC must wait for Caspar's response … and the inevitable fallout.

What worked for me (and what didn't): Unfortunately, for me, the book didn't live up to its promise.  I found the world building confusing and... not terribly believable and I think in the end, the author's style just doesn't work for me.  She is a bestselling author so there are obviously plenty of people who like her style just fine but I wasn't as engaged as I'd hoped I'd be.

Why Can't People Just Talk To Each Other??

Dear Everyone,

I'm a results person.  I tend to look at where I want to go and plot a course to get me there.  (I am also a details person but for the purposes of this post, that's not so important - although it can make me very annoying.)  In a potential conflict, my goal is to resolve it.  If I think maybe I have misunderstood something, I'll ask a question to clarify.  I don't tend to jump to conclusions without evidence.  I'll ask until I'm clear.  So I don't get the "Big Mis".  It's my least favourite trope in romance. 

Very rarely, it can work for me - usually where the misunderstanding is logical (this takes some setting up so that I don't want to kick either main character) and of short duration.  The longer it is drawn out and the less rational the conclusion jumped to, the more likely it is I'll want to throw my reader at a wall.