I found a fantastic book to enjoy after the holiday. Thanks to Dear Author for a mention about a book that she read, I looked it up and although the book she mentioned was an ARC, the author does have one book available. Just Once- Julianna Keyes was a wonderful book. Very well written and super, smoking hot sex.
Heroine- Kate, returns to a ranch where she spent three summers working as a teen. She is a travel writer but feeling a little lost.
Hero- Shane, broody general manager of the ranch.
They have instant chemistry. The trope used here is the "we can't really stand each other, but the sexual tension is so high, we will have sex once and get it out of our system" This trope is another favorite of mine. Because the one time sex never works. It always leads to more sex. And the sex was smoking hot.
Kate has an arch enemy from when she worked at the ranch before. She refers to her as Summer Skank. And I try to shy away from slut shaming, but when I take a step back and think of myself, there are definitely woman in my life that I would have labeled as such.Even though it isn't very nice.
The story progresses nicely. Kate finds herself at the ranch and she and Shane get their happily ever after. I really look forward to more books from this author.
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014
I need to find a really good book to read
Over the weekend I read In Your Dreams (Blue Heron #4) by Kristan Higgans. It was on sale, so I thought it would be worth it.
Brief overview:
Heroine: Emmaline Neal, aka Em. Police officer in town. Also plays hockey. Needs date to ex-fiance's wedding in California.
Hero: Jack Holland. Brother of heroines in series. EMT. Recently saved 4 local boys from drowning. Suffering from PTSD because of incident.
I should note that I have read every single one of Mrs. Higgans books. I enjoyed her earlier work much better than recent. Catch of the Day is one of my favorites. She also does all her sex behind closed doors. I typically hate this. But I enjoy her writing enough that I'll allow it.
What I liked:
The $1.99 price tag. I would have been upset had I paid more.
The writing is solid. Story flows well.
Em is a police officer. I like when the heroines can stand on their own.
I do enjoy the family through out the book.
Friends to lovers is a favorite trope of mine.
The use/love of animals.
I can't say with certainty, but I feel like the PTSD was handled well, with the exception at the end.
What I didn't like:
Em's parents assume SEVERAL times over that she is a lesbian. I believe her to be in her mid to late twenties. The fact that she can not communicate with her parents well enough to make them understand she is not a lesbian is weird. The assumption stemming from the fact that she is in her mid to late 20's with no serious boyfriend since her ex-fiance. Because woman can't be unmarried unless they're gay.
Closed door sexy times. I will accept that. What I won't accept is the characters referring to sex as "doing it". Seriously, are we 12. It's cool if we aren't going to get down and dirty, but can we at least say that we are having sex, or want to have sex with someone, make love with/to them? "Doing it" is juvenile.
Jack. I had a lot of problems with Jack. He was previously married. Married young and quickly with out a lot of time spent getting to know someone. It didn't work out. Ex wife shows up in town after Jack rescued kids. She is a hanger on. Jack continually bends to her desires, even after he starts to date Em. Umm no sir. His sisters are nosy as heck. Again, inability to stand up for self. He asks virtually no questions when his sister tells him to go to California with Em. He's like, ok whatevs, I need to get away.
The ending. There was a fight. Jack had a revelation. He was sorry. Then they lives happily ever after. I love Happily Ever After. But if there was conflict, let's fix/resolve that. There was no resolution on the PTSD. No treatment, no doctors appointment, nada. It is just gone? I ain't buying it.
Long story short. It entertained me over the weekend, but then I was upset and irritated when I was finished.
Brief overview:
Heroine: Emmaline Neal, aka Em. Police officer in town. Also plays hockey. Needs date to ex-fiance's wedding in California.
Hero: Jack Holland. Brother of heroines in series. EMT. Recently saved 4 local boys from drowning. Suffering from PTSD because of incident.
I should note that I have read every single one of Mrs. Higgans books. I enjoyed her earlier work much better than recent. Catch of the Day is one of my favorites. She also does all her sex behind closed doors. I typically hate this. But I enjoy her writing enough that I'll allow it.
What I liked:
The $1.99 price tag. I would have been upset had I paid more.
The writing is solid. Story flows well.
Em is a police officer. I like when the heroines can stand on their own.
I do enjoy the family through out the book.
Friends to lovers is a favorite trope of mine.
The use/love of animals.
I can't say with certainty, but I feel like the PTSD was handled well, with the exception at the end.
What I didn't like:
Em's parents assume SEVERAL times over that she is a lesbian. I believe her to be in her mid to late twenties. The fact that she can not communicate with her parents well enough to make them understand she is not a lesbian is weird. The assumption stemming from the fact that she is in her mid to late 20's with no serious boyfriend since her ex-fiance. Because woman can't be unmarried unless they're gay.
Closed door sexy times. I will accept that. What I won't accept is the characters referring to sex as "doing it". Seriously, are we 12. It's cool if we aren't going to get down and dirty, but can we at least say that we are having sex, or want to have sex with someone, make love with/to them? "Doing it" is juvenile.
Jack. I had a lot of problems with Jack. He was previously married. Married young and quickly with out a lot of time spent getting to know someone. It didn't work out. Ex wife shows up in town after Jack rescued kids. She is a hanger on. Jack continually bends to her desires, even after he starts to date Em. Umm no sir. His sisters are nosy as heck. Again, inability to stand up for self. He asks virtually no questions when his sister tells him to go to California with Em. He's like, ok whatevs, I need to get away.
The ending. There was a fight. Jack had a revelation. He was sorry. Then they lives happily ever after. I love Happily Ever After. But if there was conflict, let's fix/resolve that. There was no resolution on the PTSD. No treatment, no doctors appointment, nada. It is just gone? I ain't buying it.
Long story short. It entertained me over the weekend, but then I was upset and irritated when I was finished.
Wednesday, December 10, 2014
I'm in a reading funk
Last week I devoured "A Gentleman in the Street" by Alisha Rai. It was fantastic! So well written. So dirty. I loved it. I fell in love with the main characters. I wanted to rent a plane and write in the sky how good it was.
Then I moved on and had to read another book. It hasn't been a good reading week since then.
I DNF'd two books. And I've been let down by the others that I have read since then.
They haven't been horrible, just not great.
Quick rundown
Too Friendly to Date- Nicole Helm
I love a great SuperRomance! This was only good. I felt like Leah was a little overly stubborn. But I do love the friends secretly in love with each other trope. The torture of working side by side with your love, but being silent about it. Her mother was a little over the top with the protectiveness. There was some good set up for a follow up book featuring Leah's policeman brother, Mitch. The sex was decent. A solid read, but no sky writing happening.
What to do with a Bad Boy- Marie Harte
I saw this book rec'd on twitter. Thought I'd give it a try. Even though I very rarely pay more than $5 for a book, especially not a new to me author. I must have been feeling generous.
Anyway, there was some hot sexy times happening in this book. A solid story and plot. Another instance of the friends to lovers trope in action here. Hero is a single dad, still grieving for his wife, she dies giving birth to their son. Heroine, Del, is a mechanic with tattoos. FYI- That means she's a bad girl, that curses around the hero's son. Except she is just a regular girl and curses no less than the hero. But whatevs. This book is 4th in a series, I highly recommend reading the previous ones first. It isn't vital to understanding what's happening, but makes the cast of characters easier to understand. Mike, the hero, has a over meddling mother who thinks that a tattooed woman is beneath him, oh little does she know. And the mother tries hard to push some plain neighborly woman on him. But the mom also has some weird relationship with Del's father. Probably mentioned in the previous books.
Overall, a solid read, although I wish I hadn't paid $6.15 for it.
Ready or Not- JL Berg
I've read the other three books in this series. Lots of insta-love. Heroine, Liv, is described as a hippie, she wears flowing skirts, doesn't eat meat, and recycles. And has a tattoo on her back, that also helps signify her hippiedom. Hero- Jackson, an attorney that hates his job, sort of, but wants to provide for his 11 year old son. They end up moving next to Liv. There is this weird neighbor hate happening that turns in to love. She TP's his house with help from friends and the son. He fills her house with balloons. He rescues her from being almost, but not quite attacked from a previous boyfriend. Jackson won't have sex with Liv until she is ready and not using him as an outlet to get over the time he saved her from being sort of attacked by her ex. Author had good intentions. Overall it was a sweet, kind of too sweet, story where everyone gets exactly what they want.
The biggest take away was on one of the last pages the main character's name was spelled with a z, so it said Liz. I get errors in a book. It's ok, we are human. And I believe this was self published, but come on!, the wrong name for the main character.
And rounding out my week is Loving You is Easy- Wendy S Marcus
I love me a tortured hero. One that doesn't believe he's worthy of love. YES PLEASE. But this book turned in to a huge let down. The heroine, Brooke, is a teacher who befriends a deployed soldier as part of a pen pal program. Brooke is a 24, highly educated and her dad is running for governor. Shane is a soldier with blue collar working parents. Mismatched social classes, yep another trope that works for me. But Brooke was a complete push over. So many people in this book are down right mean to her and she doesn't fight back. Spoiler alert- Brooke is falsely accused of a crime, and she doesn't get a lawyer. She just sulks and whines and ends up leaving town to go stay with Shane's family. Shane's sister verbally and physically attacks her, and nada. Shane mistreated her several times and the next day she was all starry eyed with him again. Worst was how her mother treated her when she brought Shane home. The whole you aren't good enough for my precious daughter. This scene in the book was cringe inducing. The hoping to be governor father was in the scene but refused to speak up, even though he seemed to like Shane. Brooke also suffered a sexual assault at the hands of a family friend and the way her mother is just so hateful about it is sad. And again the father doesn't speak up.
This book has so much potential. Hero- wounded veteran feeling unworthy of love, Heroine- willing to fight for him. But I can't fall for that if she isn't willing to fight for herself.
So there rounds out my so-so reading week. Off to re-read a Jenny Crusie book. I know exactly what I will get there- solid story, some sexy times and fun.
Then I moved on and had to read another book. It hasn't been a good reading week since then.
I DNF'd two books. And I've been let down by the others that I have read since then.
They haven't been horrible, just not great.
Quick rundown
Too Friendly to Date- Nicole Helm
I love a great SuperRomance! This was only good. I felt like Leah was a little overly stubborn. But I do love the friends secretly in love with each other trope. The torture of working side by side with your love, but being silent about it. Her mother was a little over the top with the protectiveness. There was some good set up for a follow up book featuring Leah's policeman brother, Mitch. The sex was decent. A solid read, but no sky writing happening.
What to do with a Bad Boy- Marie Harte
I saw this book rec'd on twitter. Thought I'd give it a try. Even though I very rarely pay more than $5 for a book, especially not a new to me author. I must have been feeling generous.
Anyway, there was some hot sexy times happening in this book. A solid story and plot. Another instance of the friends to lovers trope in action here. Hero is a single dad, still grieving for his wife, she dies giving birth to their son. Heroine, Del, is a mechanic with tattoos. FYI- That means she's a bad girl, that curses around the hero's son. Except she is just a regular girl and curses no less than the hero. But whatevs. This book is 4th in a series, I highly recommend reading the previous ones first. It isn't vital to understanding what's happening, but makes the cast of characters easier to understand. Mike, the hero, has a over meddling mother who thinks that a tattooed woman is beneath him, oh little does she know. And the mother tries hard to push some plain neighborly woman on him. But the mom also has some weird relationship with Del's father. Probably mentioned in the previous books.
Overall, a solid read, although I wish I hadn't paid $6.15 for it.
Ready or Not- JL Berg
I've read the other three books in this series. Lots of insta-love. Heroine, Liv, is described as a hippie, she wears flowing skirts, doesn't eat meat, and recycles. And has a tattoo on her back, that also helps signify her hippiedom. Hero- Jackson, an attorney that hates his job, sort of, but wants to provide for his 11 year old son. They end up moving next to Liv. There is this weird neighbor hate happening that turns in to love. She TP's his house with help from friends and the son. He fills her house with balloons. He rescues her from being almost, but not quite attacked from a previous boyfriend. Jackson won't have sex with Liv until she is ready and not using him as an outlet to get over the time he saved her from being sort of attacked by her ex. Author had good intentions. Overall it was a sweet, kind of too sweet, story where everyone gets exactly what they want.
The biggest take away was on one of the last pages the main character's name was spelled with a z, so it said Liz. I get errors in a book. It's ok, we are human. And I believe this was self published, but come on!, the wrong name for the main character.
And rounding out my week is Loving You is Easy- Wendy S Marcus
I love me a tortured hero. One that doesn't believe he's worthy of love. YES PLEASE. But this book turned in to a huge let down. The heroine, Brooke, is a teacher who befriends a deployed soldier as part of a pen pal program. Brooke is a 24, highly educated and her dad is running for governor. Shane is a soldier with blue collar working parents. Mismatched social classes, yep another trope that works for me. But Brooke was a complete push over. So many people in this book are down right mean to her and she doesn't fight back. Spoiler alert- Brooke is falsely accused of a crime, and she doesn't get a lawyer. She just sulks and whines and ends up leaving town to go stay with Shane's family. Shane's sister verbally and physically attacks her, and nada. Shane mistreated her several times and the next day she was all starry eyed with him again. Worst was how her mother treated her when she brought Shane home. The whole you aren't good enough for my precious daughter. This scene in the book was cringe inducing. The hoping to be governor father was in the scene but refused to speak up, even though he seemed to like Shane. Brooke also suffered a sexual assault at the hands of a family friend and the way her mother is just so hateful about it is sad. And again the father doesn't speak up.
This book has so much potential. Hero- wounded veteran feeling unworthy of love, Heroine- willing to fight for him. But I can't fall for that if she isn't willing to fight for herself.
So there rounds out my so-so reading week. Off to re-read a Jenny Crusie book. I know exactly what I will get there- solid story, some sexy times and fun.
Thanks for letting me join the cool kids
Welcome to my Super Secret Book Club site.
I read so much, I might as well write about it. And share my thoughts about books.
I have also coerced some friends in to restarting a book club. Our first read, or re-read for most in my club, will be Fifty Shades of Grey. We want to get ready for the movie!
I am not a professional writer, I just want to have an outlet to share my thoughts on the numerous books I read. And have some fun!
I read so much, I might as well write about it. And share my thoughts about books.
I have also coerced some friends in to restarting a book club. Our first read, or re-read for most in my club, will be Fifty Shades of Grey. We want to get ready for the movie!
I am not a professional writer, I just want to have an outlet to share my thoughts on the numerous books I read. And have some fun!
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