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SoBe

the rambling, somewhat inarticulate, oft mercurial, rarely spellchecked, generally longwinded, occasionally pretentious, usually blunt,  and more often than not, ranty reviews of a romance reader. 

DNF

Nightwish (An Echoes of Eternity Novel Book 1) - Sydney Bristow

DNF

I just can't do it. I just finished a really good book, so reading something that doesn't even reach okay...it's just not going to happen. 

I picked "Nightwish" up because I was an Alias fan, and and the authors' name caught my eye...but the writing just doesn't work for me, and the heroine irritated the crap out of me...First she's attacked, then learns that demons/vamps/shifters and other Para creatures exist, and finally that she's been lied to for years by the most important person in her life, and that she has a secret family all the while she thought she was all on her lonesome...and through it all, she's totally and completely chill... she barely freaking reacts! she's sorta snarky, and sarcastic, but otherwise she barely responds to world altering news...so yeah, i'm too annoyed to read any more.

 

Keep in mind, it might just be me, and  this could totally work for you :)

4 stars! ...Maybe...I think

Inked - Johanna Lemon


So first things first, I'm not going to do a plot summary....mostly because I'm lazy (despite all the books I've read recently, this is the first one I've reviewed, let alone rated in months!) but also somewhat because i feel like this is one of those 'the less you know the better' type books.

 

Having said that, Inked started at 5 stars...then went down to 4, then up to 5, then down to 3, then 3.5, but having just finished it, i think it lands around the 4 star mark...

 

I loved the writing, the story, and I loved the heroine, the length of the book! and that the author is a fellow cat lover from Virginia (yay, for good taste! lol)

 

what i didn't love..the hero. We don't get his point of view (POV) so it's hard to relate or sympathize with him...Rationally i know what his reactions should/could be, but not getting his inner monologue makes it hard to be okay with them.

 

Now I can't stand books where the hero's the badass, action star, fighting the good fight, and not laying down, even when the tough gets goin, and the heroine... is just a prop...and here it sorta feels like this was the reverse...He doesn't really DO anything...and as much as i love the kick butt heroine, i have to say i think I'd have preferred a kick butt hero to go along with her...even if he kicked ass in another way, or in a subtle, harder to figure out way....Instead he's just there...and i don't really see what the heroine see's in him...

 

 

the only other complaint I'd have is, the world build was a little light, IMO. I'd have liked a lot more, enough to really get immersed in it, but that could just be me ;)

 

Otherwise, this was an awesomely awesome book...and i can't wait to read more from Johanna Lemon!

At least I finished it...

Echoes at Dawn (KGI, #5) - Maya Banks

Though I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not...

 

I stared reading this in July of 2012...and just finished it in April 2015...so giving this any higher than 2 stars seems ridiculous....not to mention unwarranted.

 

To be fair i think it was the para elements that did me in...Granted it has been a looong  ass time, so i can't be sure, but IIRC,  i was getting sick of PNR's  when i  initially put this down, so if it hadn't been for the h's abilities, I think I may have liked this more.

 

I can't really say anything else though, becasue  again, its been a loong time and   hundreds of books later, not much really stands out in my memory....and silly me didn't make any reading notes :( i suppose i could've gone back and skimmed, but meh...i didn't wanna.

 

However, now that I'm sloooowly getting back into PNR's I can honestly say the ending wasn't too bad :) So if you've liked Maya Banks books in the past (or at least her KGI titles) and you didn't over indulge in PNR books, chances are, you'll like this more than I did...at least enough to finish it in less than the 2+ years it took me!

Why didn't I DNF?!

Wreaking Havoc - Angel Steel

 

1 star

 

I tried, I tried, I tried to give this 2 stars...but just no.

 

  there's no cohesion to this story...it felt like the author didn't have a plan when she set out to write it, or maybe she only had a general one...but too many things seem like they just got thrown in...and there doesn't seem to be any consequences for anything ( or at least none that make sense) ....and so many times a character would decide something and I'd be left scratching my head, and wondering what the hell just happened?! and quite a few times it felt like stuff just got swept under the rug....

 

 

Oh and the hero's an asshole...in the beginning he was alright, and I liked him...and then things just went downhill and never recovered. 

 

 

 

Oi and the heroine....she gets pissed off at the hero,  with good reason mind you, but that doesn't stop her from screwing his brains out....repeatedly. Then there are the times she gets pissed at the hero..,again with good reason, and her way to solve her problems? Run away! It happened too many times to count!

 

 

There were a few more issuesly it was just stuff that didn't make sense....more what the fuckery than anything else...

 

Having said all that the bare bones of wreaking havoc  are decent...and ms steel isn't a bad  writer...she just, IMO  desperately needs someone to help her get  rid of all the unnecessary, crappy, out of nowhere stuff her book is littered with. 

What a strange book this was.

Relish - Kate Evangelista

2 stars..but keep  in mind 3 things:

 

One, I didn't read the synopsis...well okay I probably skimmed it, but forgot all about it when I actually started this one...I had no idea what I was getting in to. 

Two, I didn't read the first book in this series. Not sure if this would've effected anything because of Three, the whole  book ( well 99% of it) is from the heroine's pov...this is a personal gripe of mine....reading is  my escape of choice....I've said this before and I'll say it again...I spend far too much time IRL trying to figure out what's going inside guys' heads, to want to do it in my escape as well...occasionally only one pov works...here, IMO, it didn't. Not knowing what was going on in the Hero's head, made it hard to believe anything he said. 

 

 

 

Having said all that,I feel like I should mention the ending of this book was very weird...it started as some NA rock star story, and turned into some Para/fantasy  read....it felt like two different books for a while there...like I'd started reading one and it morphed into another....very, very strange.

 

 

However, despite thinking this book only rated an ' okay', I do think Ms Evangelista has talent, so I will (maybe) more than likely give her another try.

 

Falling Into You (Geek to Chic Book 1) - Nikki Brinks

All kinds of cute, and easy to read, but oy to the vey, the typos! So so so many!

 

And despite the series title, the H wasn't narly geeky enough, IMO, to really be called geeky...I mean he likes star wars and computers, but I was hoping for more...More fandoms, maybe a couple cons, and some gaming...maybe even if they'd just been mentioned in passing I'd have been okay, but as he is, the hero, IMO is only kinda sorta a geek.

 

Still, a quick fun read, so Altogether 3.5 stars.

DNF :(

Bittersweet Trust (A Bittersweet Novella Book 5) - J.L. Beck

Okay, I'm done. 

 

Three times I've picked this up, and each time only served to remind me why I put it down in the first place.  

 

In all fairness to the  author, if I had read the first books in this series, I may not be so annoyed by these characters and disinterested in this particular story.  

 

 

Now having said that, I'll also mention that I probably wouldn't have made it very far into the first book as i really can't get into the writing.

 

DNF

Brawler - Tracey  Ward

 Love, love love that this is from the Hero's pov, and totally got into the writing..what I didn't like, and kept me from going any higher than 3.5 stars was that the H spent far, far too much of the story with someone other than the heroine... Can you say grrrr? 

Kale (The Fire Inside Book 1) - Theresa Marguerite Hewitt, Chelsea Camaron, Asli Fratarcangeli

2.5 ish stars

Not bad, a pretty light read, but I never really warmed up to the hero and even more irritating,  I didn't always see the reasoning behind some of the characters reactions... In particular, at the end of the book, something happens

somebody dies

(show spoiler)

and both mc's seemed more concerned about the status of their relationship then the something that happens... I mean if more than a couple days had passed  it would've been fine, but it's like this event happens, and 72 (mostly glossed over) hours later the story ends... IMO it's just too sudden.

 


So 2.5 stars: better than okay, but I don't know if i could honestly say that I liked it.

 

Grrr times 100

Blind (Senses Series Book 1) - Xavier Neal

A serial is a whole story broken into installments. Or a story written/published in installments, the point is that they don't have a concrete ending.

 

A series relates to a set of books that are connected. And in romancelandia,They have HEA's dammit!

 

So calling this book 1 in the Senses series  is very very misleading, because it's a freaking serial...*sigh* so now, I'm not only pissed because I read a serial ( which I freaking hate) , but I'm also feeling gypped, because IMO this was mislabeled.

 

Oh also neither character is all that great, the H is an asshole, screwing anything that moves, while keeping his BFF, who he knows is in love with him nearby...so she hears, and occasionally sees all his antics.

 

The heroine wasn't so hot either, first because she puts up with said antics, and also because she leads on another guy while trying to win the heart of the hero...now the other guy was pretty cool, so it bugs me even more that neither the h, nor any of her friends saw anything wrong with what she was doing.

 

Despite my dislike of both MC's though, Xavier Neal has a pretty engaging writing style, and I was just starting to get into the story, - i thought the mc's assholery was over and done with- when the book ended. Which sucks more, because 1 ( in case you missed it), I hate serials, and 2) if for some reason I decide to torture myself with the next installment, ( which I'm guessing also wouldn't have a HEA) I feel like either one or both mc's would've regressed and turned back into douches...so yeah, No.

 

2 ish stars.

2ish stars

The Masterful Mr. Montague - Stephanie Laurens

Well, huh. I don't think it's ever taken me this long to finish an SL title before.
From the day it came out til today, that's what, like 3 and a half months? Yeesh!

 

Before I go any further, I should mention you probably wanna read the first Barnaby Adair book, as the non mystery bits is a sorta continuation from there. And my  review bitching assumes you already know who the players are.

 

So what annoyed me...well honestly, it's that despite this being about 'the Masterful Mr Montague', there's was too much that wasn't about him and his heroine, Violet. As the "Casebook of Barnaby Adair", I knew we'd get some of Barnaby's perspective, and I figured we'd get quite a bit of Stokes, which would've been fine, I figured they'd be around to help solve the case.... but so so so much of the story is from their wives, Penelope and Griselda...who've already had their story, darn it!

 

The entire first half of this book, IMO spent too much time on them ( P&G) and their desire to find a balance between being mamas and their "work", (Penelope's a translator and gives lectures, Griselda, a shop keeper, and they both help out with cases)

 

There just wasn't nearly enough of Montague's heroine. She sorta gets the shaft so that P and G could figure themselves out, which wasn't something I was expecting, or even interested in reading considering it wasn't supposed to be their book!

 

And to be blunt, IMO we also didn't need the sex scenes ( and there were so many!) with Barnaby and Penelope or stokes and Griselda. Like I said, they've had their story, this one should've focused on who should've been its main characters, Montague ( his names in the title, dammit!) and Violet.

 

On a positive note, I did like that both MC's were older. It's been a while, and I have no interest in going back so I don't remember their exact ages, (or if we even got them), but they're not super young...and the older I get the more I appreciate stories about people who are 'past the first blush of youth'.


So yeah, 2 stars. At least if I decide to read the next one, I'll know what to expect!

Not my cuppa

Scar Tissue: Paradise Falls, Book 1 - Abigail Graham

Okay, so just FYI, 'Book 1' really means 'Part 1’ so, yup, this is a serial :( ...which if I'd paid more attention, I would've known as the author is nice enough to let us know this, right on the title page....sorta think it should've gone on the cover, or in the summary as I think those usually get more attention paid to them, but still, she did mention it.

 

But this means I won't be reading anymore, mostly because, I  really am not a fan of these piece-meal stories, but also because, despite the pretty decent writing, the story itself, IMO wasn't terribly memorable, so by the time the next book comes out, I doubt I'd remember anything that happened in this one... it's like one those movies that takes place in those small towns where the cops are all crooked assholes, and in comes the hero to save the day! Not a bad story, just one I feel like I've read before ...so yeah, it's just not for me.


Remember though, just because I wasn't a fan, doesn't mean you won't be! The writing really wasn't bad, and the hero wasn't bad ( I wish there'd been more of his pov, though!) so If you don't mind the serial format, and (IMO) the somewhat familiar storyline, who knows? you might like this one, more than I did :)

2.5 stars

This was so so so good!

Nice Dragons Finish Last (Heartstrikers Book 1) - Rachel Aaron

 

I loved being surprised by books/authors! Totally didn't expect this to be this good! Almost totally from the hero's point of view, NDFL actually has less romance than I'm used to...well really it has almost no romance ( there's a kiss, iirc) but there is the possibility for more in the next book, which I now can't wait for! 

 

 

I know that doesn't tell you much about the book, but I don't know what else to say besides: Give it a chance! So much happens it's hard not to get sucked in...

I haven't been able to concentrate on or get into any urban fantasy/ pnr's in months ( even from authors I usually love), but I couldn't put this one down!

 

 

4.9 stars....the only thing better IMO, was if we'd gotten more of the Hero's gamer-ness...I mean, he spent all of his time growing up, playing computer games, so I'd have liked that to have played more of a part in his story....at the very least references to some games would've been nice :)

 

 

ETA: just really looked at  the cover and I'm actually not a fan, so I'm glad I pretty much ignored it, before picking this up!

Another day, Another DNF :(

No Regrets (His Every Whim Spin Off Novel) - Liliana Rhodes

 

So there's Nothing wrong with the writing, but I'm in a mood, and honestly, it's just not working for me. Maybe I'm being nitpicky or just over thinking it, but I keep getting annoyed by things, ESP how slow the first chapters were and then how quickly things seem to move between the h and H.

 

Specifically, when The hero and heroine meet and have a conversation ( and I'm using that term loosely) that lasted all of a minute and suddenly the H knows how determined the heroine is, knows how smart and dedicated she is, and how different from other women she is...from a one minute convo!? There's no mentioned of googling her, or checking her facebook, so PI s, no background checks. He just knows things about her....uh huh, sure.


Then another thing that bugged me is that part of their first convo, is literally the H telling the heroine she dropped something and walking away. Now screw chivalry, basic manners say unless you're physically unable, you stop and help her pick her stuff up, so I'll admit I was all kinds of annoyed that the H just walked away...was that supposed to be suave? Or cool? Because IMO it was neither, and more douchey than anything.

 

And then the heroine goes on and on about how there's no good plus sized clothing available...and maybe that was true 10 years ago, but it isn't anymore. Most major department stores have entire plus size sections, and there are quite a few plus size only stores out there....but even if you lived in bumfuck wherever, and you didn't have any brick and mortar stores around, there's this magical thing called the internet that makes the lack of said stores a moot point.

 

So yeah, I'm annoyed and not interested in giving this any more of my time, but again, if you aren't easily annoyed than you may like this one..

The Whiskey Prince - Toni Aleo


A decent read, but ultimately not for me as too many things bugged me:

 

The bad guy never feels really bad...like I kept thinking the mc's were going to find out they were wrong about him and the bad guy was someone else, someone truly evil...this bad guy sorta feels half assed.

 

Also the heroine gets chummy with the bad guy ( she doesn't know he's bad) , and everyone else takes way too long to tell her why he's bad. And these people are supposed to care about her! Seriously? He's suspected of  

rape

(show spoiler)

 and you don't think that's something you want to mention ASAP?!

 

Also there were a couple continuity issues, and bits where we're told not shown something...like the hero says he comes from a lovng family which was hard to believe because they never seem all that close. The hero gets annoyed when he talks with his sis and his ma, and pissed off when he talks to his da. there's no camaraderie filled moments so it's hard to buy that they even like each other all that much (well until the end where there's a few sentences showing how much they care...for me though, it was too late and felt tacked on)

 

 

And  then there a bits of the story that don't feel fully fleshed out, including the whole deal about the H having to get married to keep his company. It gets mentioned but I feel like we could have gotten more details about why it was such a big deal and the heroine reactions to finding out about the stipulation. 

 

Oh and the hero's a total beta...there's a couple moments when it seems like the author tried to make him an alpha but they just didn't work. I'm not opposed to well written beta heroes, but I have to be honest, this guy bored me a bit. He was sweet yes, which I liked, but then he wouldn't take action when I wanted him to, so he was irritating as well.

 

Also they're technically new adults ( the H is 22) but they mostly come off as much older but get treated as mush younger by all parents/older adults.

 

There's references to as well as shades of Pride and Prejudice in this, like the bad guy going after the H's little sis ( can you say Wickham wannabe?) this didn't bother me so much, as I like p&p I but maybe its because, like I said before, the bad guy wasn't drawn as bad as he should've been, so while Wickham was very definitely a douche this guys bad guy vibes weren't clear until the final pages of the story.

 

Also the heroine mentions quite a few times how she gladly gave up all semblance of having a life ( while she was in high school) to take care of her sick mother...so often that it started to feel like she was bragging about what a kind, loving dutiful daughter she was. If someone else has mentioned it I may have not been as annoyed, but because she kept saying it about herself it comes off as self-aggrandizing.

 

Also the climax of the story sorta came outta nowhere... Like Ms Aleo thought she needed to end her story with a bang and threw it in... But Honestly it left me more bewildered than shocked.

 

So yeah, there were a few too many things that bugged me, so I can't say I really liked this, but I didn't hate it and I did finish it ( and keep in kind just because it bothered me doesn't mean the same stuff will bother you). And I think Toni Aleo has potential, but needs some polishing. So 2.5 stars ( 2 for the story and .5 for all the irish-isms :D

Reading Update: 26%

Totaled - Stacey Grice

So a quarter into Totaled  and the hero and heroine still haven't met yet. Most of that build up, IMO is filler rather than actual necessary bits of storytelling. Can you grrrr?!

 

I'm pretty sure they're going to meet any minute now though, but I'm close to knocking on the 'I don't care anymore' door, so I'm not even sure I'll make it that far. 

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