Book Review: Ransome’s Honor by Kay Dacas @kayedacus A fun period story that leaves you wanting more. August 27, 2011

What a fun read.

It was a great period fic. Lots of gloves and manners and protocol. It was nearly twenty chapters before there was even a chaste kiss and it was perfect. I really enjoyed all of the characters. I wish we had seen more of William during the beginning of the book, but overall he was a good male protag.

I think Dacus does the era a great justice, keeping historically accurate with the women’s rights at that time as well as the culture of post-war England.

I’m actually very much looking forward to reading the next in the series. 🙂 I was disappointed that the book ended so quickly. I really wanted to see more of William and Julia. We spent the entire book waiting for them to get it all figured out and when they finally do and you can see how happy they are…. we’re done. So now, I must go in search of the sequel!

I would recommend this to my historical fiction/romance girls. Excellently written and fun too!

Book Reviews: TLC by @barbaradelinsky & A Perfect Stranger by Danielle Steele ~ Campin’ Reads! July 31, 2011

TLC by Barbara Delinsky was an impulse buy when I bought The Stud. One of the best impulse buys ever. I really liked it a lot!

Yes it’s a romance novel, but I loved the underlying story. The dynamic, the love-hate relationship between Karen and the male protag, Brice, is quite fun. It has it’s emotional parts along with the fun snark and witty banter. You guys know how I love my snark and wit!

TLC is a story about a girl named Karen who is a grad student. We begin the story with her visiting an elderly woman in an assisted living home. At first the assumption is it’s a family member but we soon find out that Karen is a woman riddled with guilt and taxing herself so much she falls very, very ill. In walks Dr. Brice… he’s cocky, rude, self-righteous, and anti-social.

And it’s on! 🙂

A Perfect Stranger is another Danielle Steele novel. I say it that way because… well, it’s just another novel. I didn’t fall in love with either of the characters. I felt awfully for Alex the entire length of the story. Raphaella is beaatiful and kind and practically perfect in every way… there are times when your heart jerks for her and you wanna take her home and keep her safe, but then again, there are some times when you just wanna smack the crap out of her! Who at 32 years old would let their father say those things to them? Or let their mother boss them atround in that way??? It’s just insane.

The premise was good… lovely girl trapped in a marriage that her family wanted her in, she was swept away at 18 years old, and you just can’t handle things when you’re super young and overly sheltered. It makes sense she’d go off and marry the guy even if he was 44 years older, I can buy that.

But I was overwhelmed by the first 20 pages of Alex complaining that his wife of two years left him and then we hear more of Raphaela has been practically imprisoned her entire life by the life of luxury and riches and body guards and chauffeurs. It was kind of disconcerting to say the least! Their romance is a lovely one even if it’s fraught with drama and angst… although, by the third or fourth ( I lost count ) reconciliation, I was a little over it.Also, there was entirely too much clothing description. It was hard to believe that Alex, a 30-something lawyer would care that his girlfriend is wearing snake skin shoes from Gucci. Even if he lives in San Fran! 🙂

The ending was sweet, but again, it was lacking. I really wanted more. It was just kind of like, “Okay, and now we’re done.” And after the huge intro of angsty stuff in the beginning, I really wanted more to go on at  the end.

It wasn’t a bad story, but it was a little long for the amount of story you get. I gave it 2.5 stars.

Book Review: The Stud by @BarbaraDelinsky Super fun with super swimmers! :) July 29, 2011

So I picked this book up out of guilt. Strange, right? You’re curious, yes? You think, “But Becca, you never read books out of pressure!? (see Harry Potter) What on Earth are you speaking of?!”

Okay, see what happend was that a twit on a fic site that I frequent decided to take The Stud and rearrange some things and add new names and call it her original idea. (Insert appalled face here.)

I bought into it. Not okay. Fanfiction is okay because you give credit to the author for being made of awesomesauce and then you play in their wake. You don’t take something from someone else and say, “Look at how wicked original and awesome I am!” Like I said, twit. (Insert foot tapping and scowl face here.)

So, chagrinned, I went out in search of this book when I found out that this happened. I looked high and low and  come to find out, it was out of print!

Thankfully, my Shangri La, Bookman’s, a book reseller, happened to have one very old copy of it.

I read this bad boy in one sitting. This story grabbed me by the uterus and kept me entertained. That’s fairly impressive, I’d say. Yes, this is your typical romance with the heaving bosoms and panting breaths…. but she’s an independent businesswoman and he’s an Indiana Jones wanna-be!

Here’s the summary from GoodReads: Jenna McCue wants a baby and chooses an ideal man to be her sperm donor–but he wants the whole package: sex, love and forever.

How could that NOT be entertaining!? No, seriously, this was a very fun, light read. Great locations, lovely descriptions, some angst, lots of lemon, and witty snark (always a must with me) and overall, it didn’t drag or make me wish it would hurry-the-hell-up! I actually enjoyed Jenna and Spencer a lot.

It’s nice to see a romance “girl book” that didn’t have a wilting laurel kind of girl as the lead. Jenna can take care of her own… she just needs some good swimmers! And I must admit, Spencer is a fun character.

He reminded me of Michael Douglas’ character in Romancing the Stone.

And I think Jenna is a touch of Diane Keaton from Baby Boom.

Yes, I’m a child of the Eighties… don’t judge me!

Overall, this was a great fluffy beach/lake read. I would recommend to anyone who is looking for something a lil’ smutty and squishy with just the right amount of “Awww!”

Book Review: Forever by Maggie Stiefvater @mstiefvater (Yeah, my lip is still quivering.) July 15, 2011

It hurts.
Maggie made me cry. A lot. This book took a lot out of me. A lot! I think I cried four times while reading it and before you ask, no, I’m NOT PMSing!

The way Maggie writes is poetry, not just when she’s quoting poetry from Rilke or when Sam is singing. She writes fluidly.

There are scenes in this book invovling pain, abuse, and death, but it’s poetic. The beauty of poetry is that it can show you angry, painful, hate-feuled words but they roll off your tongue and swirl around you creating an image.

Something can be awful, but beautiful. And beauty isn’t always clean lines and soft colors. Sometimes it’s wolves locked in a struggle for dominance, sometimes it’s parents who love but don’t know how to show that love, sometimes it’s choosing life even if you have to give your own life for that of another’s.
Maggie shows us this in Forever. Life is all about choices, minutes, moments. Sometimes you make the right step, sometimes you screw it all up. Sam, Grace, Isabel, Cole, Beck, Tom Culpepper, The Brisbanes, even Shelby… they’re all integral, whether loved or hated, whether large or small, they all mattered.

Sam Roth will always be one of my favorite book boyfriends. Maggie makes dreamy lovely boys who are filled with love and self doubt and kindness. Imperfectly perfect. You guys know that’s my favorite.The shower scene I think was one of my most favorite scenes in this book because it reminded me so much of how my husband and I react to each other. Something I love about Sam and Grace is how real they are even though they’re in this incredible, ridiculous, fictional clusterfuck. They take a moment when most of us would be curled into the fetal position crying and gave it humor and adorable-ness. She really does a great job of balancing the “WTF?” with the “Aw!” That’s why I love Maggie so much!

Maggie built us a world. It started with Shiver and I promise you it doesn’t end with Forever. Her world makes me happy and sad, wistful and kind of whiney. I hated turning that last page.

I will admit that I did skip ahead a few times trying to get to Grace and Sam. They just mean so much to me and I wish we could know more about them, now if they’re safe, happy, together.

I’m going to refuse to believe anything less than that.

Book Review: The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer by @michellehodkin I came, I read, I cried, I laughed, I recommend. July 8, 2011

I love this book. Most of you who’ve followed me for a while know that I read this while I was betaing Mara for Michelle. I read this story so many times, I have parts of it memorized. One scene in particular, I won’t mention it, but it still makes me all swoony-giggly-blushy. Yeah… I know. You’ll know what I’m talkin’ about when you read it. 😉

It is truly an intriguing, emotional, heart-thumping, complicated tale.

Our main character Mara is distressed, but she’s no damsel looking for a white knight. Noah is gallant, but he’s not sporting any shining armour.

Mara is my love. She is tough, smart, feisty, and will put you in your place, in more ways than one.

Noah will make you swoon. He’s smart, snarky, sexy, and foreign.

Aren’t those the requirements for a heartthrob? Give him a brain, a body, and a British accent and he’s golden, yea?

I will brag about Michelle because she’s my friend and I love her… I will brag about Mara because it’s a damn fine story with suspense and pain, heart and humor.

This is a fantasy paranormal YA thriller and I hope you’ll put it on your list. It’s gonna freak you the hell out and you’ll love it. Go check out www.michellehodkin.com to find out more about my girl Michelle.

Book Review: Linger by @mstiefvater She made me cry! July 4, 2011

Oh, Maggie. The ending of this just killed me. I knew it was coming, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.

I was so wowed, I immediately started reading Forever as soon as the ARC showed up, but Linger is still stuck in my head!

The constantly changing points of view were difficult, I found myself craving Sam and Grace, but Isabel and Cole are interesting to add to the mix. I just love Sam so much. And Grace is such a fantastic female lead. I guess I’m just attached to them.

As always, Maggie has taken us into a world we could never comprehend and made it simple and ours. You sympathize with Grace’s need to be a part of something and her craving for Sam and his security and love. You can familiarize with Sam’s desires for loving and protecting Grace, but his need to remain loyal to Beck and his pack. Also with Sam’s reticence to be an alpha, to be the boss… when you’re young you might crave adulthood, but when you’re the one every one is turning to for guidance, it would be nice to shirk responsibility rather than be the one to blame when it all falls to pot. I just wanted to hug Sam and tell him everything was going to be okay, even if I knew it wouldn’t be. I wish I could keep Grace and Sam in my pocket and make everything better for them… make them a perfect world where they can have it all.

It’s a modern day Romeo and Juliet only instead of Montagues and Capulets we have naive human and wild wolf shifters. Both, just like in R+J, have their selfish desires and self preservation in their core, but both can be beautiful as well. This is what I love about Maggie’s writing… she shows us the good with the bad, the feral with the humanity, the pleasure wrapped in the pain, the kindness hidden beneath the fear. It’s beautiful.

I wanna be Maggie Stiefvater when I grow up.

Book Review: Sean Griswold’s Head by @lindseyleavitt Two thumbs up! Good thinkin’ too! July 3, 2011

This was a good story. Better than good… it was real. I’m not sure if that will make sense, but it’s a real, good, fun story.
I kept forgetting to write my review and I found several hours of sitting in ICU gave me some time to reflect on things I hadn’t taken care of like this.

Sean Griswold’s Head is a great story for many… it would be a great talking point for the young ones. A great way to bring up tough topics like diseases and mortality, things that younger folks don’t really contemplate at all until they’re faced with it.

Now that I’ve been sitting in an ICU hospital room with my mom, I think I appreciate Lindsey’s book even more.

When I first started reading I thought it had a good Sloppy Firsts kind of vibe, I loved the language and slang, the quick pace, all of it meshed well together. Now that it’s been a bit and I’m staring at tubes and talking to nurses and smelling that disgusting over-clean smell, it makes you really think and take stock.

Just like Payton, many of us, myself included, kind of just take stuff for granted… you assume it’s all well and good when no one tells you it is not well and good.

Naivete can be a good thing, but it can also be not at all good. Payton comes to this realization, but she kind of has to hit every branch as she falls out of the Real Life Sucks Tree.

I was completely head over heels for Sean.. he’s a good male protag. He reminds me of the perfect sitcom boyfriend. I also loved the sarcasm. Snark is hot people. Payton and Sean have a fun dynamic.

I wasn’t thrilled with Jac, the BFF, she was a little much for me. There were a few times I would’ve tied her by her braids to the Real Life Sucks Tree and whacked her with a wiffle bat or something, but that’s okay… we all have a friend like that right?
Some of the topics in SGH can be tough to get into, but it’s done so well. It can really make you think though. At least it did for me.

Lindsey did, yet again, a great job making real-life fiction fun and also a learning moment. It’s nice to be entertained and get a good message. Very after-school special minus the gross outfits and poor acting. 😀

I highly recommend and can’t wait for more from Lindsey.

Book Review: The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by A.N. Roquelaure aka @AnneRiceAuthor June 2, 2011

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty was a lovely shock to the system for me. It was phenomenally written by a psuedonymed Anne Rice.

A beautiful languid, lovely prose all the while describing harsh, violent, erotic scenes. Sometimes I was reading, mouth agape. Other times I realized I was curled up in a ball, tucked all up as I read. All the while I was eager to read, eager to learn more of Beauty’s journey or if her prince would be redeemed. I was wanton to know how, or even if, Beauty and her counterparts would rebel or escape, but then again, her alternatives were nothing. It was exciting and heartbreaking all at the same time.

You feel sad for Beauty, but then again you want her to keep going and be strong and prevail. I found myself thinking of things for her to do, how to escape her enslavement to the prince who freed her.

It’s such a dichotomy. Freedom from sleep only to be bound in slavery. At what cost can you find true freedom?

Our Beauty is a spoiled, rich girl, idle and bored, although she loves her family and is always the epitome of well-bred princess. But then she’s awakened after a hundred years of sleep and taken from everything she’s ever known, enslaved by a prince and his mother, the queen, and kept in a violent atmosphere of debauchery and pain, pleasure and gluttony.

I was fascinated by the story beyond the obvious “erotic adventure” as the book touts on the cover.

Age old question… what is freedom? Am I to describe someone else’s freedom? Should it be my version of freedom or theirs? Who’s is right? If our Beauty and the other Prince and Princess slaves find freedom within their pain and captivity, through the actions and commands of others, is it still freedom?

Also, what is too much? My limits may be different from your limits? How do you know until you push past them and realize you’ve gone too far? This is what Beauty begins to learn.

At the end of the first book, you are left asking, “But what happens next?” and I eagerly picked up the second “Beauty’s Punishment.”

Now we find out what Beauty is really made of now that she’s been ripped away from her captor prince and thrust into the village.

If you want to push your limits and really read a gorgeously written tale, I highly recommend The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty.
Not for the faint of heart.

Book Review: ARC of Tangled Past by Leah Braemel @LeahBraemel May 28, 2011

I was interested in this story mainly due to it’s poly relationship premise. I enjoy historical romances, but I don’t always get into Westerns, this was a different kind of Western though. Although there were the fun cattle rustling, horse riding, dirty varment kind of stuff within the pages that you’d hope for within a Western Romance novel, Tangled Past also has an intricately woven romance story line that you normally don’t see. It is unique and very well thought out.

Yes, it is a romance. There are flowery prose and professings of love, but there are two male main characters and they are vying for the love of our female lead, Sarah. They are also vying for each other as well as Sarah.

Jackson is rough edged and abrupt, but he’s honest and loyal.

Nate is kind and sweet, but earnest and passionate.

I couldn’t help but fall in love with both of them right along with our tough Sarah.

Sarah’s life hasn’t been easy and even though her tale is very realistic for this time period and sometimes hard to read about, you come to find her strength and drive very enduring and attractive. Nothing ruins a romance more in my opinion than a “wilting flower” as Miss Martha calls them, the wise sage in Tangled Past.

Leah does a lovely job of creating three distinct characters that bring three distinct pieces together into a beautiful relationship. Their connection reminded me of a symbol I have tattooed on my back, the Trinity Heart Celtic Knot. Where one piece ends, another begins so there is truly no end. I would have loved to have been able to read more, especially later in the story.

I did find several type errors that brought me out of the story a few times, but that’s the beta in me. I’d love to give this story a once over before it’s published to make sure it is grammatically correct and reads smoothly. This story is quite enjoyable and deserves to sparkle.

I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical romances, especially of the Western variety. I’m sure it’s not easy setting this balance that you find in Tangled Past. Leah handles polygamy with care and it’s not only emotional but beautiful and erotic. I would definitely like to read something from Leah again.

Thank you again to Carina Press for allowing me to preread their ARCs. I very much appreciate being given these opportunities!

Book Review: Notturno by @ZAMaxfield Awesome paranormal read! May 21, 2011

What an emotional story!
I picked this out because it looked like a naughty romp, but it turned out to be more so. Adin’s story made my heart hurt over and over!

I was reading over the last day and my stomach kept dropping. It seemed like every chapter I had to tweet ZA about how much my heart hurt for Adin!

Donte is a lovely vampire character and the entire story just makes you swoon and smile and gasp. ZA has a wonderful way about her fluency and word choice, the way Donte and Adin coin a phrase was just adorable and fun. You could feel the attraction as you’re reading. It starts passionately and ends passionately. It’s a lovely mix of intrigue and action, mystery and conversation. It’s wonderful!

It was a fantastic story. If you’re looking for something that combines paranormal romance with intrigue and fun for a really great read, I highly recommend!