Thursday, May 31, 2018

Harmony by Karis Walsh

HarmonyHarmony by Karis Walsh

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


There was a period of time when I, for the most part, didn’t write reviews. Well, it has fluctuated over the years – there were some longish ago where I tended to review most of what I read, but those years are so long ago I barely recall them (we are talking about the early 2000s, right? Hmms, well, that is roughly 18 years ago depending on when in the early 2000s. Oh good, now I’m talking to myself inside my own review). Cutting a much longer paragraph shorter than it might become – this is one of those occasions when I kind of wish I was in my non-reviewing phase.

This book stars two immature young women. Both have their point of views on display. There are similarities and differences that are easy to spot. Like: both have family issues (Brooke is something of a doormat to her family – they want her to go with a certain boy to prom? Sure, why not? Date him? Okay. Marry him? Why the fuck not? (because you are actually a lesbian and have thought you might be since college?); Andy is less of doormat, but still feels the need to aggressively obey her family – mostly as a stand-between between her mother and very angry father (the doormat part comes in with constantly needing to make sure she doesn’t piss off her father, and actively spend time with them)). Both have no issue what-so-ever with cheating (okay, one did eventually develop a guilt complex, but more about cheating on her ‘other woman’ with her ‘girlfriend’).

Differences? Well, let’s see – Andrea Taylor is open and out lesbian; Brooke Stanton is so far into the closet she’s marrying a man. Also Andy is super neat and organized and Brooke is the messy kind of person.

That’s how the two meet, by the way. No, not because of mess, but because Brooke was going to marry a man. Andrea, along with about 12,000 other music related jobs (tip: unless you are someone like a member of the Rolling Stones, a music career doesn’t tend to pay a lot), works as a musician at weddings. She plays with a quartet. Wait, no . . . Tina, man, man, Brooke, yes a quartet. And Brooke’s wedding is one of their ‘gigs’.

Andy meets Brooke to set up the music for the wedding. Brooke seems cold, unattached to the world around her, and generally completely unlike how she normally acts – though Andy doesn’t know this at the time. Brooke only really ‘awakens’ when she finds out Andy is a lesbian. Whereupon she spends that moment until hours before her wedding thinking about fucking Andy to get being a lesbian out of her system.

So, she does. Thereby cheating on Jake (Jake right?); meanwhile, by giving in to Brooke’s bad seduction techniques (seriously – Brooke tries to seduce Andy in a fake pre-meeting that Andy didn’t know was a set-up; Andy calls her on it, Brooke becomes enraged and flings a lemon into Andy’s eye. Then bluntly asks to fuck. So they do. Because, you know, Andy’s quite . . . heh, not let’s not go down this road) Andy cheats on her girlfriend (described, at some point, as ‘sort of’ girlfriend, though, you know, still girlfriend). So, there we go. The book begins with: a closeted lesbian, who is going to marry a man, spots a lesbian, badly seduces her (how bad is it if it works, eh?), and both parties cheat on others so they can fuck each other.

Despite not having had much interaction with each other, despite not knowing a damn fucking thing about each other, Andy assumes that the mind-blowing sex they had changed Brooke’s world and that they would now become a couple. Because, you know, that’s the natural next step when you fuck someone before their wedding to someone else. Brooke, meanwhile, thought the sex was mind-blowingly good – too good, she wanted a fling to wash this stink of lesbianism off her, but nooo, she had to love fucking a woman – but she doesn’t want to disappoint her parents or Jake, especially since she isn’t really sure if she is actually a lesbian, and if the sex really was that good (it was – I mean to her, I mostly skimmed the sex scene).

I’m now reading another book involving a man, woman, woman love triangle, and that one has graphic depictions of man on woman sex and woman on woman sex, so I do not actually recall if Jake ever graphically fucks Brooke. I think that didn’t occur.

So, where was I, so, Andy assumes the wedding is off, but Brooke is going through with it. A showdown occurs at the rehearsal (which the quartet doesn’t normally play at, but Brooke wanted more time with Andy – I’ve a vague impression this was set up before they fucked). Words are exchanged. Brooke is upset. Andy’s upset. The wedding is still going forward.

Before the wedding occurs, Brooke postpones it, and turns up at Andy’s door. Whereupon one of the most annoying scenes in all lesbiandom occurs. Andy, with apartment door open, looks at Brooke. Brooke wants in. At this point in their relationship (what relationship?), Andy thinks Brooke just used her. Brooke demands to be allowed in. She has, by the way, some luggage with her.
Brooke crossed her arms over her chest. “After Thursday night, I figured you owed me at least that much.”


Andy, naturally, scoffs at this comment. Owes her? After Brooke pounced on her, injured her eye with a lemon, had mind-blowing sex, then just left the next morning like nothing had happened? OWED?

Brooke’s reasoning? Andy owes Brooke because Brooke wanted a fling before the wedding. But . . . BUT!!! THE SEX WAS TOO GOOD!!! YOU RUINED ME! So, you know, you owe me. WTF?

Brooke is let in (somewhat more due to her mentioning she had nowhere else to go). Andy leaves or something. Comes back. Finds that Brooke has kind of exploded all over the apartment. Her clothing is all over the floor. The bathroom is a mess with her stuff. And she’s wearing lingerie. Andy’s apartment before the arrival of Brooke was cleaner than . . . something clean and organized.

*breathes*

Brooke and Andy kind of do, kind of don’t date. Andy keeps doing things that piss Brooke off (as does Brooke to Andy, though Andy is more mildly annoyed; Brooke becomes enraged). And, to be honest, the things Andy does are alarming blinking red lights that should warn people to flee. Like, several times, setting things up for Brooke without once talking to her about the issue ((view spoiler)).
ANDY: I JUST WANT TO HELP!!!
BROOKE: TALK TO ME!! DON’T TRY TO CONTROL ME LIKE MY PARENTS!!!

At some point Andy, while in the middle of fucking her girlfriend (no not Brooke, recall how I said Andy actually had a girlfriend, sort of or not? – she’s fucking that woman, Lyse or something like that), Andy suddenly stops. She keeps thinking of Brooke. She wants Brooke. She shouldn’t be cheating on Brooke with her girlfriend (Lyse)! So . . . Andy’s a serial cheater. Cheats on Lyse with Brooke, cheats on Brooke with Lyse – only feels guilt when cheating on Brooke.

Story-wise? I loathe this story.

Character-wise? I loathe the main characters. And I’m not sure I like the others, though I do not really have enough information – though Lyse (whatever the fuck her actual name is for fuck sake) is a massive bitch – in stories about her, and in person.

You know books that I feel like tossing against the wall/burning to show my rage, whatever the fuck? Yeah, I loathed this book but not to that point. I tend to need to actually like the book, which goes in a horrifyingly bad direction, before I develop those ragey feelings. So . . . 2 stars instead of anything less than 2 stars. Hmm, that means I think the book is okay, if I recall Goodreads’ floater tip thingie. Ah, whatever, 2 stars.

Rating: 2

May 31 2018



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Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Birthrite (Legacy, #2) by Max Ellendale

Birthrite (Legacy, #2)Birthrite by Max Ellendale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Just a quick note this time: For the good portion of the time, this book was relatively difficult for me to read, though I kept reading. Difficult because it was so hyper-sexualized. No, not heavy on the sex, but heavy on the touching, kissing, thinking about sex (lots and lots of thinking about sex), more touching, siting on each other, licking, etc. There were good moments, though, and by the end I gave the book the rating I did. Only to see I've rated the book the same rating I gave the first book. Weird how things work out (and no, I had not recalled, before rating the book, what I had rated the first book).

Rating: 3.75

May 29 2018



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Colorblind by Siera Maley

ColorblindColorblind by Siera Maley

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book is about a young woman of 17 who has the ability to know when people will die. Not a date and time, not how they will die, but just the age. Which sits on each person’s forehead like a tattoo. The only way she can get away from knowing is to not look at a person’s forehead, but it is quite hard for her to not look. Even though it pains her each time. Even if the information she sees is something like ‘84’, stamped on a young mother with two roughly six year old children with her (both of whom have death ages between 51 and .. . I forget now, 80 something?); or spotting a young woman roughly her own age with the death age stamped on her of ‘16’. Painful, grey world she lives in (colorblind, the title, comes, I believe, from the fact that she, and the other person she knows who has this ‘special gift’ see the world mostly without color – grey, bleak, filled with death).

That ‘16’, by the way, is stamped on a young woman who the main character, Harper, runs across. She has a great first meeting with Chloe – well other than the part wherein she almost ran her over with her car. And, oddly, she doesn’t look at Chloe’s forehead until the very end of their first encounter, when the woman turns away from her and Harper catches what she thinks is ‘16’. She calls out to get confirmation (to get the woman to turn to her again) and, yes, 16. She’s meet this great young bubbly happy woman . . . who is shortly going to die.

Heavy, eh?

Weirdly, the only time I stopped reading was when I had to pause for a moment to put food into the microwave. But that was my only pause. I devoured this book. It is very readable. It made me laugh, it made me teary-eyed. Great great book.

Rating: 5.5

May 29 2018



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A Night at the Mall by M. Hollis

A Night at the MallA Night at the Mall by M. Hollis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


A vain materialistic girl, of ~27, goes to the mall for a blind date. Is stood up. Goes to redeem the day by buying clothing. Gets locked in store. Meets another woman. Stuff happens. The other woman is a fidgety flighty weirdo. The end (baring a few scenes here or there after the store scene).

Nothing much happened. And this is not a romance. Though there was a little bit of kissing.



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Sunday, May 27, 2018

In Development by Rachel Spangler

In DevelopmentIn Development by Rachel Spangler

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is one of those celebrity stories – though unlike many I’ve read, it is a mixed story. As in, if the story involves an actress, the other party tends to be an actress as well (or actor), a background person (an assistant, or an up and coming writer who isn’t famous yet, or a stunt person), or someone completely outside celebrity-ville. Well, here, we have an award winning actress (teen awards), and an award winning and popular pop star who end up circling each other.

Cobie Galloway is somewhere around 28 (or was it 26?), but still tends to play teenagers or people close enough to that age in films. She has been doing so since she was a teenager. But now she wants to move on to more mature work, and has a specific script she wants to work on. A script she has some control over. A script based on a lesbian fiction novel. Oh, forgot that part – she’s been out as a lesbian, Cobie I mean, for eons. So that part isn’t an issue with doing the film. No, the problem her manager, as he explains it to her, is that she might in many ways be perfect for the role (not words he used but whatever), but that no one would believe her for that role.

Well, that paragraph got away from me. Started off just mentioning one of the point of view characters. I assumed I was going to say something like ‘Cobie was in to see her manager about a new project that would turn her career in a new direction; while leaving the meeting she literally stumbled across the other main point of view character in the book, Lila Wilder, a pop star.’ But alas, the paragraph got away from me.

Well, as noted, there are two points of views in this book – a pop star, Lila, and an actress – Cobie. They both are represented by the same management agency, though by different managers – Stan for Cobie, and . . . it was Mimi, right? For Lila. Lila had also been at the agency for a meeting, and like Cobie, she was there for a new direction type of thing. Though, in her case, it is a constant in her career that ‘new stuff’ would occur – and by that, I mean, she’d date some hunky guy to drive up press attention in between album releases, then move on to some other new hunk. And that’s one of the reasons she’s at her manager’s place that day – though the story, at this point, was more centered on Cobie.

Stan and Mimi put their heads together and come up with a plan – Cobie and Lila would pretend-date. Why? Lila’s only dated men up to this point, and that’s actually why – because people are actually becoming bored with Lila’s flings. No longer edgy and stuff. But a relationship with a woman? Back to being edgy. Why do they want Cobie to do it? Because Cobie wanted to transition from being thought of as a ‘sweet’ teen like person, to a person who could play the much more rough, edgy, player-like Vale (I forget if that’s the name or not) character from the movie she wanted to do.

So, that’s what they do. Cobie and Lila pretend date. Feelings are found; feelings are suppressed; sex is had; feelings are suppressed; some hard conversations are had . . . and stuff.

Long and short – I rather enjoyed the book. Something like loved it. I’m still toying with whether to give this book a 5 star or 5+ star rating.

Rating: 5

May 27 2018




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Saturday, May 26, 2018

Glyph (Legacy #1) by Max Ellendale

Glyph (Legacy #1)Glyph by Max Ellendale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


It is difficult to read a book that includes as the main and only point of view a woman who is, at times, TSTL (too stupid to live). She’s a genius doctor, but she kept making very very stupid decisions that put her life in danger – that put other people’s lives in danger. In addition, one of the other main characters (though not POV), also had TSTL tendencies (what with being gung-ho in putting herself in danger, and not ‘respecting’ danger when it appears - (view spoiler). In addition to this specific problematic issue is the part where I entered this book thinking I was going to be reading lesbian fiction. This was in no way a work of lesbian fiction. No lesbians here (Shawnee is messed up from an extremely abusive childhood, so she didn’t have a clue what she was like or what she might like, but ultimately she’s bisexual; Vanessa, the weretiger, has a history of constantly banging dudes (with no history, apparently, of banging chicks, except being really overly affectionate with Shawnee – hence my ‘no lesbians here’ comment; Xany, the only other main character level chick in the book is into dudes).

Right, so. Once I got past those two specific issues, I found the book to be enjoyable. Sometimes hard to read, literally, since Shawnee kept having massive panic attacks and be terrorized by her past. And the book ended . . . well, I can’t say, spoiler, but it ended a certain way.

Shawnee Twofeather is a full-blooded native American . . . she thinks. Her mother is a full- Cherokee (even if that’s rare), while her father, she thinks, is probably Cherokee and Sioux. She had a massively abusive childhood, but she’s mostly blocked that out (well, as much as she can without actually dealing with the issue, which leads to nightmares and stuff – the not dealing with it), and works as an emergency room doctor. Hmm, actually. Her role in the hospital was odd. She was . . . what, a research assistant? Who had the run of the hospital and could wander wherever she wanted, the ER, the morgue, wherever? Eh, weirdly open job, but she worked as a research assistant and handled stuff in the ER whenever she felt like it. This leads me to another issue I have with the book that actually shocked me - (view spoiler).

I’ve kind of lost track of where I was. Mmphs.

So, let’s see: main and only point of view is Dr. Shawnee Twofeather. She works in a hospital. She has, basically, one friend, a woman named Vanessa. Despite some rather descriptive stuff given for others in the book, all I know about Vanesa is that she has red hair – I mean all I know physically, well, her human shape.

Only friend, that is, until she runs into a woman who is bubbly and introduces herself as Xany. They meet outside their apartment building. Xany has locked herself out. Turns out – they actually live on the same floor. Xany is very nosy, and bubbly. One thing leads to another and something like an ‘intervention’ occurs when Xany introduces Shawnee to Xany’s brother and friend (Mal and Calden). The ‘intervention’ is about just what Shawnee is; with the understanding that she didn’t know. But, while she’s tried hard to block her past, she did/does know. Mal & C are werewolves. Xany and Shawnee are ‘breeders’. Vanessa is a weretiger, but that wasn’t part of the intended intervention talk.

Right so . . . . It’s hard to write about this book without doing what I’m doing. Plot info dump. Mmphs. Well, to keep myself from continuing down that road I’ll note: the shifters grow closer, spend time together, until troubles erupt due to Shawnee’s past (which are handled in a TSTL fashion by Shawnee).

For the most part I enjoyed the book. The characters can be sometimes hard to take/like. Watching a woman showing signs of lusting towards a man in a book that I had thought was lesbian fiction was a little hard to adjust to, but bah, whatever. Truth to tell, I wasn’t sure what I was getting into, though I saw how affectionate Vanessa and Shawnee were; and noticed how Shawnee really took in and seemed to like Xany’s bouncing massive breasts. But alas, this did not turn out to be a FFF book. Nope. As noted, Xany’s into dudes. (view spoiler).

Rating: 3.88

May 26 2018



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Friday, May 25, 2018

Return to Me: A Remi/Claudia Story by Fiona Zedde

Return to Me: A Remi/Claudia StoryReturn to Me: A Remi/Claudia Story by Fiona Zedde

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a quick short story about a relationship between a young woman of 29, Remi, and an older woman of 50-something (I've the idea the number 53 might have been used), Claudia. They've been in this relationship for the past two years, and even though both seem quite into each other, quite loving of each other, and even though neither is showing signs of straying - the younger woman is suffering greatly by certain fears. Not that the older woman would leave her. But that Remi would be the one to stray - because everything about this relationship is somewhat out of character for Remi.

Sure, Remi has/had lusted after her friend's mother for a longish while, and didn't act on it until she was an adult. And sure she loves being with her, loves her not just the situation, but . . . she fears being fully herself with Claudia and therefore fears her needs will force her to stray. So she's hiding a part of herself from her lover, and possibly leading down the path to relationship ruin.

Claudia, being smart and stuff, takes things into her own hands and 'fixes' stuff.

This is listed as being 2.5 in a 4 book series. Since this is the first work I've read by this author, it is easy to see that I've not read anything else in this specific series. I do not know what I may or may not have missed in the prior works, but this short sexually explicit story seems fully formed and readable without a lot of previously acquired knowledge. Granted the story begins with the couple already being a couple and if readers need to know how everything came together before reading this story, then don't read this story first. I prefer couples stories, rare as they are (possible I might not prefer them if they weren't so rare).

Rating: 4.27

May 25 2018



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Thursday, May 24, 2018

Rabbit by Max Ellendale

RabbitRabbit by Max Ellendale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the first book that I have read by this author. If I recall correctly, I initially put it on my list of possible after spotting 1 or more friends liking the book. And the fact that this book is in the Kindle Unlimited program made things a lot easier.

First off: I do not recall how quickly I picked up on this particular factoid, but this book is not contemporary to our time. It is set roughly 10 years in the future, in a world created from what can be seen from today’s headlines. You know, those headlines involving death by guns, casual racism and sexism from elected officials, attempts to roll back protections of LGBT people – well, we are in that world, or, I mean, 10 years into that world.

I’d relatively recently reread a book set about thirty years after its publication date. And one of my observations was that it seemed a lot more conservative, than I’d have expected for a book set 30 years later in Japan. Seemed weird to me. And there were no little hints dropped as to why things were that way. Here? It’s obvious why certain things would be the way they would be, ten years into our future.

Heck, one of the two main characters was acting a little oddly about intimacy, and one of my initial thoughts was that maybe she’s having some ‘issues’ with coming out/being out. Or whatever. And ten years after everything that’s been happening right now? Yeah, I normally have troubles with ‘modern’ people having issues, but in this situation? I’d have no issue with that being in the story-line. I’d made a mistake, though, and that wasn’t why she was having issues (though Alice’s roommate Marc ‘isn’t out’, so there was a storyline there that used that ‘not out’ trope – and I was, oddly, perfectly fine with it (partly because he didn’t seem to actually be hiding but whatever)).

Well, this review started weirdly.

This book is titled ‘Rabbit’. Rabbit is a nickname Alice Lange’s family gave her (mostly her brothers) for various reasons, many of which involve her name being Alice. Alice is the main character, and, unless I missed something, solo point of view. She’s a detective in Seattle, working for the Bias Crimes group. Most of the time she spends going to schools and refugee camps letting them know the law, and their rights regarding harassment, bullying, and the like. That, at least, has been her recent tasks on her job – most of the book, though, involves her off her job for various reasons. Rational logical sane reasons.

For various reasons Alice kept ending up in a particular hospital. Whereupon she bumped into a Doctor Corwin. The two develop a friendship. That, later, leads to more. Both, oddly enough, are shocked when they learn that the other is a lesbian – though both had been wishing the other was before the revelation.

I do not wish to reveal everything, so I’ll just note: both of the main characters, Alice and Corwin I mean, have ‘issues’ that cause them problems with relationships. Both issues play a role in this books unwinding plot path.

I liked the book and will look to see if any of the other books by this author interest me.

Rating: 4.33

May 24 2018



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Sunday, May 20, 2018

Death Magic (The Veil Chronicles, #2) by May Dawney

Death Magic (The Veil Chronicles, #2)Death Magic by May Dawney

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Once I found out the ages of the main characters, I was quite happy, very happy, that this book did not, in fact, turn out the way I had expected it to . . . um . . turn out. I had expected either: 1) another romance, coupling up, like first book, or 2) advancement of series. I was putting the odds at about 90% 1 was likely. Turned out – neither were correct.

This book is neither a romance, nor did it advance the series – I mean, literally advance it in time. Since the events that unfold take place during the same period of time as the events that occurred in the first book. Just involving different characters in a different part of the word (though one of the characters could ‘feel’ some of the events that occurred in the other book, when they occurred).

17 year old naĂ¯ve, shy, deeply afraid of life, people, everything, Claire stumbles around as the main point of view character. Everything but the epilogue is from her point of view. The book opens with her about to be hit by a truck, only to be saved at the last possible moment by a woman on a motorcycle. Then she ends up back at her apartment, shaking, shuddering, wondering what is going on with her body, why she keeps losing time, why she keeps finding herself in strange locations unaware of how she got there (everything in the setup lead me to believe the character was early to mid-twenties, including the part where she lived in an apartment by herself and had a job she worried about; later there was stuff about ‘studying’ and ‘schoolwork’ which seemed vaguely jarring; still later I learned the character was 17).

Before she can say ‘boo hoo my life sucks’, she gets a knock on her door. She opens the door to find . . . the motorcyclist, who turns out to be female. And very demanding. Right up front she’s talking about sticking needles into Claire, and how they are late – how they need to leave immediately. Claire, being the spineless pushover puppet, just goes along with things. Sure, stick needles into me, draw my blood, drag me from Baton Rouge to London. Why the fuck not, eh? Fuck my life, job, school, family, friends. Okay, this is actually making it seem like she had more agency, like she was into leaving, she wasn’t. She didn’t want to leave. She also didn’t want to lift a finger to stop herself from leaving so . . . she got dragged away from her life.

Very quickly we, or I mean Claire, learns: she has a ‘special brain’ that allows ‘dead people’ to ‘possess her’. Specifically one Madame Stravinsky. Who was instrumental in creating the magic society vaguely (or more than vaguely) mentioned in the prior book.

So. That’s what happens. Alena, the motorcyclist, info-dumps on Claire about the society. Acts like a massive controlling . . . person, gives Claire no ability to refuse, and bluntly indicates that Claire doesn’t matter – she doesn’t need to actually know any of this stuff, she just needs to be a human shell to be possessed. Did I mention yet how I did not like a single character in this book?

Right, so, they head off to London. Alena info-dumps. Claire acts shy, nervous, etc. She reads a book by a real pompous asshole called Simon Magus. Learns some crap she’ll never actually get to remember (at least that’s the plan, but ‘we’ know that plan isn’t going to get put into effect, eh? – that plan being that her mind would be wiped (well memories of magic and stuff) after her period of being ‘used and abused’ is over).

Most people in London are nice enough to Claire, but several kind of glare angrily at her, like Elena and Mr. … um . . Alena’s father-dude.

Claire lusts after Alena and seems to blush non-stop. Alena calls her adorable. Etc. etc., I said there wasn’t a romance, I didn’t say there wasn’t flirtation.

Alena, by the way, is 33. So, a 33 year old and a 17 year old hooking up, eh? Ack, I should have noted: pops calls Claire a stick figure, while Alena calls her gorgeous, model like. So there’s some vaguely creepy vibes thrown in there as well. What with the much older woman constantly grabbing and pushing around the teenager. And making borderline flirtatious comments.

Eh, but whatever. Considering how this story turned out, I assume book three will be the same – as in, we’ve learned things (in book 1) from the Wild Magic person and her free-lance mage friend; then learned things about the society through Alena and Claire – through the same time period first book visited; then in book 3, I assume, we’ll learn about the Inquisto through Wagner; whereupon book 4 might finally actually have some advancement of story.

I leave noting what I’ve already stated – I did not like any of the characters in this story.

Rating: 3

May 20 2018




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Saturday, May 19, 2018

Perfect Little Worlds by Clifford Mae Henderson

Perfect Little WorldsPerfect Little Worlds by Clifford Mae Henderson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*I received this book from Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley for an honest review*

This is the fifth book I’ve read by this author, one of the five I’ve read twice. Every single one of these books are oddball books that defy classification. All but one of which I’ve rated highly (2 of the 5, or 3 of the six counting rereads are marked 5 stars on Goodreads, two are marked 4 stars, and 1 is marked 3 stars). All of the books involve some bit of traveling, though I can’t really use this as a link – none of them are really what I’d call travel fiction. Several of them, three of the five if you count a prelife story, involve dealing with life – death or prelife. But enough of this rambling.

What’s this specific odd ball book about, then? A woman of 79, living in Santa Cruz California, talks into a recording device. Telling a tale that’s mostly directed to events before, during, and slightly after a specific event that occurred in 1989. 26 years ago – when she was 53 (her actual age of 53 was never given, but her age of 79 was given, the fact that she tells the story in 2015 is given, and the fact that the story she tells is mostly focused on events in 1989 lead me to an age of 53).

What specific event occurred in 1989 that she relates? Why, that’d be the time she got a call from the neighbor of her mother and sister. The neighbor indicated that there might be an issue. After a bit of back and forth, Lucy, who – in 1989 when she got the call – was/is living in Portland Oregon at the time, must attempt to help her mother and sister living in Santa Cruz California. So she does – heading down for a visit. Only to find that her mother is in horrible shape – and doesn’t have a clue who Lucy is; her mind is mostly gone. Not completely, she spends her time bouncing from on time to another, but mostly watching television, and occasionally frantically getting ready for guests to arrive (not that any guests are going to be arriving). Alice, the sister, seems somewhat stressed but also mostly handling things. There’s a little back and forth about why Alice didn’t say what was going on, whereupon Lucy realizes that Alice did, in her way, say that things were deteriorating. Mentally, for the mother.

While attempting to figure out what to do about the situation, the sisters are trapped underground during and shortly after an earthquake hit – a 7.1 one that hit October 17 1989, the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (which, for whatever reason, I see Google calls a 6.9 earthquake, but whatever, it’s 7.1 in the book).

And that’s basically what the book is about. A daughter finds out her mother has mentally deteriorated, and her autistic sister is coping as best she can. Bits and pieces of other parts of the characters’ lives get mentioned – like stuff that occurred in 2015, and stuff that occurred before 1989; and stuff that occurred between 1989 and 2015. In terms of romance – there . . . the beginning stages of a romance is shown, but the book ended before anything of the relationship’s development was shown (though, since the book is actually set in 2015, not in 1989 – as in a woman of 79, in 2015, is thinking/talking about, recording the story of her life events that occurred in 1989, then the ‘what happened next’ is known by the reader, ‘what happened next’ in terms of the very brief glimpse of romance, I mean).

This is a rather sad story. I’m sure there were happy moments in Lucy’s life, but she’s examining a sad portion of her life (albeit one tied up with, presumably, a happier time – i.e. her relationship with another woman), during a period of time when she’s basically alone in the world.

I’m not really sure what all I can say about the book. I’m sure I’ve both under and over revealed stuff as it is. The book is listed as ‘General Fiction’, not ‘mystery/romance/historical/etc.’ I can’t put anything in here that reveals my feelings on the mystery/romance/etc. angle. Historically? Well, it is set in 1989, and there were some neat bits that were shown there. 1989 is too close to today, though, to call the book ‘historical fiction’. So I’m back to ‘General Fiction’. Which doesn’t give me a hook to ramble about. There’s no mystery to solve, no crime to watch unfold, no humorous caper, no ghosts to mingle with, no . . . easy hook to pin words on. It’s a ‘reflecting on life by an old woman’ type of book.

I liked the book well enough. I’ve no clue if anyone else would or wouldn’t. One of the problems with odd ball books is that it is hard to recommend or not recommend a book that falls into this category.

Rating: 4.28

May 19 2018



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Friday, May 18, 2018

Sparks Like Ours (Seven Shores, #3) by Melissa Brayden

Sparks Like Ours (Seven Shores, #3)Sparks Like Ours by Melissa Brayden

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*I received this book from Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley for an honest review*

A weird thing happened when I turned to this book. I was getting flashes of the most recent previous work I’d read, unexpected as I didn’t expect any real similarity. I kind of had a ‘darn’ moment there, but the fact that both books start off with a heterosexual woman and a lesbian eyeballing each other is similar-ish, but everything else was/is different. For one, in the previous book they were eyeballing each other with lust; while here, this book here, they were eyeballing each other as rivals – enemy-like, though a few degrees back from enemies. For another, I rather liked how things unfolded here more than in the previous book. In terms of how the people involved gradually came to some realizations, dealt with some internal and external issues, and eventually came together. Instead of the insta-lust of the other book I’ve not named.

This is the third book in Brayden’s California based Seven Shores series that follows four friends as they find love and happiness. Book one, ‘Eyes Like Those’, followed Isabel Chase, writer, and Taylor Andrews, producer (with Isabel being the ‘Seven Shores’ friend, though she’s newly arrived in California at the start of the book). Book two, ‘Hearts Like Hers’, finds Autumn Primm, Venice Beach coffee shop owner (‘The Cat’s Pajamas’), hooking up with a vacationing firefighter (Kate Carpenter). Kate’s the Seven Shores person in that she lives in that apartment complex, though it’s Autumn who is the Seven Shores friend (the difference being that Autumn was friends of the Seven Shores people but didn’t live there). And then we come to this book here, where the woman who intrigued me from the beginning, the one who I was curious about from the beginning, gets her story told.

Gia Malone is a young woman who has spent her life surfing. Professionally. She might have liked to go to college, maybe, but she wasn’t in the situation to do both – financially. So, immediately after high school, she entered the qualifying tour. Eventually she rose up to the top tier pro tour and a year before this book opens, she was number 7 in the world (I do not recall if ‘in the world’ is mentioned, but, since the events that occur in this story take place around the world, I assume ‘in the world’ is accurate), and by the time this book here starts, she’s number 2.

Occupying the number one slot at top of the pro surfing leader board is Elle Britton. Gia’s rival and something like but not exactly enemy. Part of Gia’s dislike of Elle is the part wherein Elle is number one; mostly, though, it seems that Gia’s dislike stems from how she views Elle’s personality. In that, Elle seems too perky to be real. A fake plastic Barbie type.

Several complicating matters turn up – a year before this story opens, a photo was released that made it look like Gia was lustfully gazing upon Elle in her swimsuit (it’s never firmly dealt with, but the impression given is that both parties know that Gia wasn’t actually doing that, it just looked that way). It’s an issue because it gets brought up every once in a while. Then there’s the part where the happily partnered up Seven Shores people begin talking about ‘sparks’ and how Gia and Elle seem to have some – a theory begun before either party seemed to actually desire the other (we are still in rivals zone; also, one of the main people talking about Gia’s love life is her fellow single Seven Shores friend Hadley, so I’m not sure why I worded things the way I did). Then a specific sponsor wants to pair the number 1 (Elle) and number 2 (Gia) in an advertisement campaign – so both would have to work together, interact a lot more than they normally do when on tour. The, how to word this, the romance angle of the book doesn’t really start, though, until another event occurs – on the same day two articles appear, one strongly indicating that Elle and Gia are bitter rivals; other strongly indicating that Elle and Gia are lovers. Elle has an odd reaction to the stories, Gia doesn’t even know those stories exist. Oh, and somewhere along the line Elle picked up a boyfriend who she likes and who likes her, and who both like spending time with each other – a boyfriend kind of adds a complication layer to a female-female romance, eh?

Wow that’s a huge paragraph, I should break that down somehow. Nah.

One of the problems with a many friends type book is trying to remember who everyone is and how they fit in. I found it easier to remember everyone without thinking too hard with Brayden’s prior series, though I mostly kept up with the character list with this series. There are just many side characters, some of whom already appeared in the story (both mains and side characters). *shrugs, moving on*

I liked the two main characters well-enough, and their eventual connection seemed well developed, but I unexpectedly kind of disliked some of the stuff I was seeing with Gia. Mostly in her thoughts and actions regarding Elle. Seeing perkiness as fake and plastic-y. But that, obviously or not, went away as the story progressed.

There are issues that pop up as the story unfolds, both foreseeable, and not. Family related, relationships related, and sports related. Everything seemed naturally occurring and not artificially created to add layers of problem issues to overcome.

Let’s see, what else is there to say – I liked the characters, main and side. The story was interesting and good. Flowed naturally.

Well, just one friend left without a partner (even if you pulled in Elle’s friend Holly it’d still be just one friend, since Holly has Dash, and is straight (though Elle started this book straight so…). Hadley the one connected somehow or another to fashion and a specific store. I’ve tended to like her in the series, so far, with my favorite scene with her being the one where she’s dressed up like a cow. Tail and all.

Rating: 4.65

May 18 2018




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Thursday, May 17, 2018

Love By Design by S.W. Andersen

Love By DesignLove By Design by S.W. Andersen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


For several reasons, this was a difficult book for me to read. The main one was the fact that at about 29% into the book, and no no need to use a spoiler alert, I ended up receiving access to two advance reader copies of books I really wanted to read. There wasn’t anything inherently bad or unreadable about this book up to that point, but, I found myself in the unfortunate situation of wanting to read something else while not having a good excuse to dump the book I was reading. This situation, oddly enough, ties into the book.

Oddly enough, has a somewhat (completely unrelated nonsimilar) similar situation develop. In that one of the main characters was in love with a particular character when the book began – to the point that she was in the process of marrying them. That’d be Cassie Carl. My this isn’t at all similar yet, eh? Then she finds she has access to two books . . wait, no, she meets the interior designer, Peyton Kingston, her future husband had hired to add a window to a part of the house (I thought you hired interior designers to do things like redesign a particular room, to make the furniture, walls, carpet, etc. ‘look good’, and hired an architect or, more likely, a contractor to put in a window, but whatever).

Cassie repeatedly, and I mean repeatedly, tells herself that she loves whatshisname, in fact she’d marry him in a heartbeat, the problem she has with him isn’t him, but his family – both the individuals in question (the mother seems to hate Cassie), and the position in society they hold which come with massive responsibilities (they be rich society types – the kind where women don’t work, unless it is charity and/or volunteer work – which really annoys Cassie since she’s worked her way up from garbage to be a department store manager). This, at least, is what she thinks before she meets Peyton for the first time. And afterwards. There’s just an added twist. The part where she’s deeply impacted by the mere presence of Peyton in a room – not that she’s ever been one of those, you know, lesbians – to the point of wanting to pounce her, rip her clothing off, and bang her for the next 90 years.

Meanwhile, in Peyton’s corner, we find . . . the exact same reaction. Except Peyton is not, at that point, ‘seeing anyone’. Oh, and is a lesbian, so finding another woman attractive isn’t a shock to the system. Later she, Peyton, finds someone to ‘see’ – Charyl (sp?) who runs a restaurant, is opening another, and lusts after Peyton (has for years).

There’s a weird mix of side characters that I cannot always remember how they fit in. Since they seem to float around amongst the main characters (especially Francesca), without ever being mentioned (it seems) by the main characters to each other.

Right, so, I was liking this book, not loving, but liking this book, two arcs became available to me, both of which I lusted at more than this book and . . . well, it’s a stretch. I had this thought. It isn’t working well. The part where Cassie is perfectly happy with ‘rich boyfriend dude whose name I can’t remember’, even loves him (she mentions this numerous times) – except for his connection to his family, as in they exist – until she becomes aware of someone else even more humpable. And . . . stuff.

Hmms. Good enough book. Took me longer than normal to read (shesh, three days to read this book?).

Rating: 3.33

May 17 2018




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Sunday, May 13, 2018

The Taking of Eden by Robin Alexander

The Taking of EdenThe Taking of Eden by Robin Alexander

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I start off by noting that I am unsure how to rate this work. I’m fluctuating between 3.75 and 4.35, and saying ‘so I’ll pick 4 stars’ just doesn’t feel right for some reason.

This is one of this author’s early works – back when different genres, styles, etc. were being played with and it shows. Well, I do not mean this book is all over the place, it isn’t really. It’s just that it doesn’t really read like a Robin Alexander book. Mind there are unexpected flashes of humor that remind me of later books, but this work was never intended to be a work of humor. Its angsty, and psychological, and drama-filled, with crime and a bit of thrills here and there mixed in as well.

The book is called ‘Taking of Eden’, I mention the title so I can then say – one of the main characters is actually named Eden. Eden Carlton. (view spoiler) I mention all of this because it leads to the set-up of the story. Though the reader doesn’t know this going in, so maybe I shouldn't mention all of this, eh? I’ll add some spoiler tags and resume.

The reader of the book both does and doesn’t meet Eden at the beginning. Does because she’s there, but she’s not the main character in the beginning. No, that’d be Jamie Spencer, a nurse who got tired of the life and death found in hospitals and moved into working at a mental health facility. The McManus facility – a private one that caters to the rich, and is deeply concerned about privacy and confidentiality.

On her first day at this facility, Jamie is shown a particular patient – one intrigues her. No, this is not a book about a mental health nurse who becomes involved with a mentally ill patient inside a hospital. She becomes intrigued because of how much different that woman is being treated – only the supervising nurse is allowed access to her chart and only one doctor works with the patient. And anyone who asks questions about the patient gets run out of the building.

The book description is misleading. One of the reasons I was reluctant to read this book, beyond knowing it was an early Alexander book and highly unlikely to be humorous, was the book description. Well – ‘Murder and betrayal send three women fleeing for their lives deep into the woods of the Carolinas’ – isn’t exactly inaccurate but . . . is misleading for reasons I can’t really explain without spoiler tags being used.

Another character of importance is Holly – another nurse at the facility. She’s an important character, but not a POV character (the POV swings around a lot, and I mean a lot, so maybe she is at some point during the main section of the book). She’s one of the other people who notice the strange activities going on with that specific patient and both of them investigate the matter – both Holly and Jamie.

I liked this book a lot more than I did the other early Alexander books. Though mentioning ‘early’ reminds me why I give authors so much wiggle room – why I give them 3 to 5 books for me to come to a decision about them. If I’d read the first three books by Alexander, and only those three, I’d likely never have read another. And yet . . . bah, this isn’t a topic for this specific book. Though it made me look – first book I read by Alexander, no I mean by publication so let’s restart. First book published by Alexander that I read I gave a 1.5 star rating, then this book here, which is around 4 stars, then a 3.75 star book then a 4.75 star book . . . um, let’s pretend this paragraph never existed, or change the ‘if I’d only read the first three’ to ‘first book’).

Course this isn’t the 3rd or even second book I’ve read by this author, but the 27th (not counting rereads, which would raise things to … hmm, that number isn’t right I don’t think, looks closer; I’ve reread 4 of Alexander books, so this would be my 31st book read counting rereads). I do not remember the point of this paragraph.

Right, so, I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would.

Rating: 4.08

May 13 2018



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Friday, May 11, 2018

The Rogue Not Taken (Scandal & Scoundrel, #1) by Sarah MacLean

The Rogue Not Taken (Scandal & Scoundrel, #1)The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


A fun, exciting, arousing, humorous book set in 1833 about the daughter of an Earl falling for the heir to a dukedom. That seems to sound right, dukedom? Eh, whatever.

Complications, though:
1) The daughter of the Earl, Sophie Talbot, despises aristocrats, the ton, nobs, the top-tier – for many reasons;
2) That Duke heir, currently going by Marquess of Eversley, or more specifically ‘King’, has vowed to never marry;
3) The Talbot daughters, Sophie being one, are the ones society mocks, makes fun of, and finds great fun being snide to. Again, for reasons;
4) King has a very bad rake reputation – the kind that involves ‘ruining’ (a very popular word in the book, well more ‘ruination’) those about to marry.

The book is hilarious from beginning to end. The romance is great – it’s an odd kind of enemies to lovers. Odd because, as noted, Sophie wants nothing to do with those with titles; and King wants nothing to do with respectable relationships and love. Which isn’t why the start off as enemies, but lays the foundation – King is like the model and reason why Sophie hates the aristocrats, vain, pushy, thinking only men count and women have just one path, and they are expected to be happy about it (looking for, securing a husband, pushing out babies) – actually scratch that last part, since King never plans to marry; in turn, King has this delusion that Sophie is trying to trap him into marriage – just like her older sister did – trapping a different Duke.

I’m being weirdly vague. Let’s get more detail.

The Talbot’s have spent a lot of time and energy over the ages being miners (at least the Talbot’s father and grandfather). And have become fabulously rich from it – to the point that papa Talbot ended up being created a brand new Earl. Thrusting the family into the titled class. So they enter the marriage market (when they reach the right age) beautiful, rich, titled (well from a titled family), and . . . not blue-bloods, not ‘one of us’ (hence my comments earlier about the Talbot daughters and how they are seen in society – scandals -> luckily for everyone involved, the daughters just love their new place – and popping up in the scandal sheets, the gossip columns. At least all of them but for Sophie. Who hates it. Everything about it. She was ten when she was thrust from being the daughter of a rich man, but without the responsibilities of titles, into the responsibility of having to live up to society).

The book opens with Sophie at a party. It’s a theme party – the hostess has some Japanese fish that she just loves, so is hosting a . . . Chinese dress up party (‘no one knows what the Japanese are like, but China is so close, they are the same!’). Sophie hates it. The hostess, Lady something or other (it’s not important) spots Sophie and invites her to wander out and look at the fish. Sophie leaps at the chance to wander away from the party. Whereupon she finds well the book description says what happens (that description, by the way, isn’t the best I’ve seen). Sophie, the ‘quiet’ Talbot daughter makes a scene with all eyes on her, mocks the upper crust, which turn their backs on her.

So Sophie decides to leave – and doesn’t want to have to deal with her relatives, so wanders outside, thinking about how to leave. And is almost hit in the head by shoes. Then a man climbs down the outside of the mansion and lands next to her. That would be King. Escaping a woman’s room. And an Earl who is yelling at him. And so Sophie and King meet. And this is kind of where the enemies thing starts – Sophie has one of King’s shoes and holds it hostage, wanting King’s help in leaving. King refuses and walks away without his shoe.

Sophie, through various means, ends up pretending to be a footman (yes, dressed up in livery and pretending to be a boy), hanging off the back of a carriage. Heading to Mayfair (where her family lives). Only the trip seems longer than expected. And . . oops, the carriage wasn’t actually going that direction.

Somewhere along the way Sophie and King bump into each other again. Sophie keeps attempting to either leave on her own, or get King’s help. King keeps thinking Sophie is trying to trap him into marriage. And keeps helping her even though he initially had decided not to – though that actually causes Sophie problems in certain situations, but let’s move on, eh?

As noted – hilarious book. And there was a quite interesting and even riveting sex scene. I have a tendency to skim those parts – especially like here when we are talking about a heterosexual book, but I found myself reading every word. Weird, eh?

I’ve never read a book by this author before. I plan to immediately acquire the next book in this series (maybe all of the books in his series . . nah, just the next book).

Rating: 5.5

May 11 2018



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Thursday, May 10, 2018

Breakthrough by Kris Bryant

BreakthroughBreakthrough by Kris Bryant

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


*I received this book from Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley for an honest review*

I’m not sure I’ve read a book like this one before. I do not mean anything good or bad by making that comment, just making a note about it. I’m specifically referring, here, to the main character – the solo point of view character.

I’ve read many books that involved players or people with play reputations. Oddly, or not, most of those involved non-femme characters (or, at the very least, not high femme). Have I seen that character in books? Yes, but not high femme player.

Going over to the player side of the characterization I tend to find three versions: 1) players wanting to stop being a player and to settle down (most of the time I see this in the form of rakes in historical fiction who have spent the good portion of their early adult lives sleeping around with every woman they could find, but now they’ve decided they need to be responsible); 2) people with player reputations who were never players but that reputation got stuck to them for one reason or another (I’m reminded of two characters: Brayden has a character with a player reputation who feeds that reputation, not because they are specifically a player, but because they use it as a shield against . . . I forget now what; and Galli has one who got that reputation by being seen going home with different women every night from a bar, except she was driving them home as a designated driver type, not for romance); 3) players who have no intention of being anything but players (rarer character to find as main character). Well the character in this book is something of a fourth type. A woman who lives in a world, a situation, in which being a player is the norm, and she doesn’t even realize that she lives in a somewhat ‘different’ type of world. She knows she’s a player, but everyone is a player.

Kennedy Wells has spent her life going from one party to another, drinking, partying, sleeping around, and getting paid to do it. Quite well paid. She works as a celebrity journalist. The kind who writes articles about ‘her friend the actor’, instead of hit pieces. Her life was tossed off-course, though; when one of her flings with a random woman, her interview subject, lead to a lawsuit. So she was moved off the high flying celebrity circuit and wants back on. Her boss, Erin, promises that she’ll be put back into her old position if she helps her brother, Erin’s brother, Travis settle in at another magazine – one that’s more about fishing, hunting, and the like. Help by writing a feature article, not help in person with Travis. Travis makes no appearance in this book (other than via one or two emails).

The feature article involves interviewing a jerk asshole reality star type person who has a fishing show. In Alaska. And she has to leave immediately. All mentioned because she heads off with barely adequate clothing and without even reserving a room. Which is where I get back to reminding people that the main character is a high-maintance high femme princess type – who, upon arrival in Alaska, proceeds to disdain the offer of an SUV, takes instead a luxury sedan, then drives around in high heels somewhat randomly. Until getting lost. Because she’s a city girl and stuff.

This reminds me of my initial problems with this book. Very early on there was a very strong vibe of ‘my gosh, I can’t believe how nice and helpful these folks are out here far from the big city; they’ll help without wanting something in return’ (very early on? This goes on, at least the vibe about ‘help without an agenda’, throughout the book) compared with the city dweller who only helps if they have an agenda. I’m not really sure why that particular trope comes up so often. I live in New York, I’ve helped people and people have helped me without needing to be blackmailed into it, or with an ulterior motive. But, eh, I’ve never lived in Los Angeles, where Kennedy is based, maybe it’s as hellish as Kennedy describes.

Got distracted by tropes. Where was I?

So, Kennedy, the main and only point of view character, heads off to Alaska to write some articles. While there she bumps into several people, some nice (all of whom, weirdly, are described as super thin), some less than nice (from a waitress who isn’t as helpful as Kennedy would expect, up to . . . people with guns and evil intent). Stuff happens. Personalities change. Etc. etc. I really hope Kennedy is supposed to be seen, how to word this, as a not tremendously likable person. She does grow, though, so that’s good.

Four things I wish to note before wandering off and doing whatever else: 1) there’s a bunch of sex in this story, lots and lots of sex; 2) I like Wally the pet raccoon; 3) it is hard to get a handle on Brynn, the other main character, since her point of view is not present; 4) thinness. As in, every bloody person meet is described as being super thin. From the 40+ year old librarian who is described as eating a mountain of food, but is just so thin despite that; to the main character Kennedy who is described as being 30 pounds underweight (Kennedy describes herself as being thin, too thin, because she needs to be for her job; Brynn describes her somewhat more negatively as needing 30 more pounds on her); to Brynn herself who is tall, lean, and all muscle; I do not specifically recall if Lara, the police officer, is described as thin or not, but she is described as being gorgeous by vain Kennedy so, since it’s a thought by Kennedy that probably means Lara’s super thin also.

Oh, a fifth thing: Kennedy is really into the fact that she’s a high femme, and likes that Brynn is butch. Though it gets slightly confusing at times – what with Kennedy thinking to herself how Brynn is exactly her type, shortly after making note that everyone she normally sleeps with are all high femmes. Eh, whatever.

Rating: 3.89

May 10 2018



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Sunday, May 6, 2018

A Night Like This (Smythe-Smith Quartet #2) by Julia Quinn

A Night Like This (Smythe-Smith Quartet #2)A Night Like This by Julia Quinn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I'll be quick, just a little note. Possibly more later. Possibly.

I spent the entire time reading this book, at least if you look at my status updates, noting to myself and others that I wanted to DNF the book after every page (or every other page). Then I end up rating this book 3 stars. Am I overly generous? Do I never give ratings worse than 3 stars? Of course not. No, the things I despised were relatively minor, but seen in both main characters (the man, Daniel, was overly pushing and demanding, kept grabbing people by their arms/wrists, and kept forcing himself onto a woman (who was 'beneath him', marriage wise, as in she wasn't the type to be acceptable for marriage); the woman, Anne, kept repeating to herself how unacceptable she was (that wasn't the issue I had), while, at the same time continuously melting into Daniel (that was the issue, though, oddly enough, that 'redeemed' the man to a certain extent, as there is every indication that Daniel would have pulled back and not continued his advances if he hadn't seen/heard 'something' from the woman (she did say please kiss me, and the like) - as an aside, it's good she did say stuff, there are way too many evil assholes out there who 'see something in their eyes' or body language or whatever that screams that the woman wants it - even if what they are seeing is their own imagination)).

Right. So. I had issues with both main characters. I had issues with Daniel in the prior book, and had issues with him here. He is a full on Earl, not heir, or in line, but an Earl. He spent 3 years in exile because of a series of stupid events likely to not have occurred if he wasn't drunk, and he injured his friend in a duel . . . and he still seems very immature no that he is back in England. At least he seemed that way to me. That's another reason I was having trouble continuing to read this book.

Still, I saw these things and the made it harder to read the book, but not impossible. Basically, what I'm saying, is that neither main character were characters I really wanted to spend time with. Yet I did. Then somewhere around 55% things morphed a little and my thoughts started to change. Then the final section of the book was this mad dash action type thing that was thrilling and edge of the seat type stuff, so . . . the book didn't redeem itself so much as the issues I had with it were reevaluated. And so . . . gave it 3 stars on Goodreads.

Rating: 3.33

May 6 2018



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Saturday, May 5, 2018

Just Like Heaven (Smythe-Smith, #1) by Julia Quinn

Just Like Heaven (Smythe-Smith, #1)Just Like Heaven by Julia Quinn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I’m quite tempted to rate this book higher than I have. Though it’s a question of rating it 0.25 stars more than I have, or not – but that raises the rating on Goodreads from 4 stars to 5 (since I’m thinking of rating this either 4.50 or 4.75).

Right, so. I’ve now dipped into three series by this author. All of which are connected to each other. The first series I dipped into, oddly enough, is also one that I’ve only read one book by – both because there were no other books in the series when I started; and because, when more books (1 more) appeared, I . . . wasn’t feeling happy with the author and the book itself didn’t look that interesting. I mean, the concept from the beginning – the underlying theme, is lying (reminder: I’m not talking about the book this review appears on, I’m referring to the second book in the Rokesbys series).

Right, that’s a muddle, let’s try that again.

I’ve dipped into three series by Quinn. First series I tried was the Rokesbys series, a prequel series to the Bridgertons series. Loved the first book, but haven’t read any other Rokesbys book. Then I read . . . most of the Bridgertons books – all 8 of them. Most because I had to DNF one of them. Bridgertons being about, unless I confused myself, the generation of marriageable adults that came after the generation in Rokesbys.

This book here, the book this review is supposed to be about but hasn’t been yet, is a side series instead of a prequel or sequel series. As in, the events in this series takes place during the same time period as the events in the Bridgertons series. Barely, but still. This specific book here, chronologically, slides in-between book 7 and book 8 of the Bridgertons series. About three years, if I were to base this on the age of Gregory instead of dates since I don’t remember the actual dates, prior to book 8 (Gregory’s book).

Gregory and Colin make cameos in this book. Oddly, and I only really recalled it now – but Gregory got talked about a lot – invited to a party, was a member of that party, was talked about as a potential husband material . . . but didn’t really appear in this book. Colin, on the other hand, was never talked about – at all – yet had an important scene in the book. There might have been another Bridgertons pop up in this book, but I don’t recall any. The very old woman who feels free to say whatever she wants, but whose name now escapes me (Lady . . . Ddd . . d . . D something), also plays a somewhat important role in one (or two, but it’s connected) scenes.
The story is about … I hate when book descriptions fail to include the main character’s names in them. Bah. Honoria Smythe-Smith is the lead female character (and yes there are two points of views in this book). Honoria comes from a large family, just like the Bridgertons (I do not recall if an exact number was mentioned for Honoria’s family), but Honoria is like Gregory and Hynacith – near the end of the line (or the end), but unlike those two, she doesn’t have anyone nearish her own age. So she both experiences a large family and . . . being lonely in a large home – what with her older siblings off doing their own thing. She does ‘pester’ on of her siblings, though – mostly because he’s close enough in age, roughly 5 years, that she can try to do stuff with him. Unfortunately Daniel wants nothing to do with ‘Bug’. And would have nothing to do with her but for her persistence and the empathy of Marcus, Daniel’s friend from Eton.

Marcus, Earl . . . something or other, comes from a very small family. There’s him and . . . . there’s him. His father got his mother with child (don’t worry, they were married at the time), and when the mother died when Marcus was . . . 5? some suggested the father marry again to increase the number of potential heirs. Father, though, gazed upon his son and found him intelligent enough and stuff. And had no desire to reenter the marriage market and heaven forbid actually deal with another wife. He was content with just the one child. Not that he talked much him until the kid was about 12, whereupon the kid was mostly off at Eton anyway – so father and son rarely saw each other. Mother and son, while mother was alive, were also in favor of the stand-offish parenting style.

The book begins with Marcus meeting Honoria and her family, through brother Daniel – and being, basically, made a member of their family. That’s the prologue.

The actual story starts off with Honoria caught out in the rain in Cambridge, and being helped, temporarily, by an Earl – Marcus. They are still . . . friendly-ish, but they haven’t spent much time near each other for the last three years – ever since ‘that thing with Daniel’ occurred.

Marcus and Honoria reconnect. Etc. Etc. Honoria is in her third season and is determined to find a husband before the end (well, during it, the season hasn’t started yet). Her mother isn’t much help, though, because she’s become withdrawn these last three years – though there’s every indication that she was like Violet Bridgertons for her other children.

Those who have read the Bridgertons series will recall that the Smythe-Smith put on music recitals – and that plays an important role in this book as well. Well, it would have to since Honoria is a member of the performing quartet.

Marcus is strong, muscular, ‘with money’, and ‘highly titled, plus he doesn’t appear to be beast like (though no one seems to call him handsome, just not beast like). Oh, and he’s shy-ish and doesn’t like parties, crowds, London, or the ‘season’. He spends the book near Honoria . . . for reasons.

I rather enjoyed this book from, mostly, beginning to end. I was a little concerned, though, when the beginning didn’t see that humorous to me. Since the reviews seemed to indicate that this was more of a comedy than a romance book ()+––––––+

Dang it. My word processor just died. mmphs. Now I have to actually write in the box here on Goodreads. Though I was able to get the review up to now. mmphs.

Where was I? Book was said to be funny. I didn't see it at first. But was funny, eventually. There's a medical issue that crops up - I liked how that was described and even found humor there. As is somewhat normal, I kind of just skimmed along when the sex turned up - I do not, in general, enjoy reading the really long sex scenes this author writes, though there might occasionally be funny moments - more often there are . . . potential moments of me wishing to not continue reading due to the . . . stuff . . . let's move on.

I liked the side characters, for the most part, especially Iris and Sarah from the Quartet. Though I had trouble telling the parents apart - Honoria's, Iris's and Sarah's (were all of them there? I'm not even sure, though I know . . . um . . at least two mothers were involved in the story).

Rating: 4.50

May 3 2018



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Friday, May 4, 2018

On the Way to the Wedding (Bridgertons, #8) by Julia Quinn

On the Way to the Wedding (Bridgertons, #8)On the Way to the Wedding by Julia Quinn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I mentioned in the previous review I did for a Quinn book that there were reasons for why it took me two years to get around to reading the last two books in this series. Well, I’ll mention specifically for this review the part where I haven’t exactly ‘loved’ the Bridgerton male leads. And Gregory hadn’t exactly impressed me in prior books (I believe he is a ‘kid’ in all prior Bridgerton books but for his nearest sister’s book, the previous book in this series, and the first book in the Smythe-Smith series where Gregory is still in college but is same age as lead female in that book).

Then the prologue, which I think I read two years ago, didn’t exactly lead me to scream ‘MUST READ NOW!’ No, it screamed ‘back away and flee’. Several reasons, I’ll just note: I do not like reading ‘prologues’ that take place in the future, and the rest of the book leads up to it (then moves past it . . . eventually). I do not like it in books, on television or in films.

No matter. Eventually I got around to reading this one, and, oddly, found it to be near the top of the Bridgertons books. Eh, don’t go by me though, I do not think other readers feel same way.

Right so. Gregory starts off the book . . . let’s skip the prologue. The book starts off with Gregory being told that he needs to do something with his life. Get a job, settle down. Something. Be serious about his life. Gregory promises to do so and has a vague feeling that he will, in fact, find his match – he’s a romantic, see, and expects to find ‘his love’ – who he’ll immediately recognize at first appearance, and both of them will feel it, feel the love. Well, he did have 6 older siblings (and 1 younger) make love matches, so . . . he’s been trained to be a romantic.

Naturally Gregory finally finds love at a party immediately after being told he needs to ‘grow up’. Gregory is beyond happy. He’s found his one. She . . . barely acknowledges him. ‘She’ being Hermione Watson. The woman with Watson, Lady Lucinda Abernathy, lets Gregory in on some secrets and tries to help him. Doesn’t seem to work.

Meanwhile the female lead of the book is . . Lady Lucinda Abernathy. She rather loves her best friend Hermione, but she’s spent her life in her shadow. Everyone wanders up and instantly falls in love with Hermione and only pays attention to Lucinda if they remember that friends might help ‘get’ Hermione.

There’s humor, blackmail, love, mistakes, etc. etc. throughout the book. And some rotten guardians (and siblings, Lucinda’s brother, who she appears to rather like, is a complete asshole to her – okay, maybe not that, but he’s a spineless fuck who doesn’t give a fuck if his sister actually has a season and stuff – just goes along with the guardian’s plan to marry off his sister, despite brother now being the titled person and the head of the family, but fuck responsibility, right? Pft. Guardian is their uncle, to just round things off.

Right, so, where was I? I liked the book. It good.

Rating: 4.75

May 3 2018




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Thursday, May 3, 2018

It's In His Kiss (Bridgertons #7) by Julia Quinn

It's In His Kiss (Bridgertons #7)It's In His Kiss by Julia Quinn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


There are two reasons it took me roughly two years to read this book despite already owning it for those two years: 1) my ratings for the Bridgertons series kept going down to the point I’d DNF’d the previous book; 2) Hyacinth didn’t really look like a character I wanted to read.

Strange what happens, eh? I rather enjoyed Hyacinth. And her friendship with . . . again I’m bad with names, but the really old woman who speaks her mind in this series: Lady . . . Dangerfield or whatever.

Hyacinth has been around for a while – season wise, without getting married. She’s had proposals, less and less as the years went by, but she’s had some. None, though, were from anyone she fancied. Hyacinth is generally . . . liked well enough by the rest of the ‘season’ people, but also described, mostly behind her back, as . . . well, the word isn’t used, but basically a shrew. Or, a young version of that woman I labeled ‘Lady Dangerfield’ above because I can’t recall her name. She’s attractive enough, but not a beauty, is intelligent . . . and knows it. Has something of a hyper-need to know everyone’s business. Etc. etc.

Because of reasons I won’t get into, Gareth St. Clair, the male point of view, is something of an outsider. He’s heir to a title, I don’t mean that, I mean he kept himself apart from others. He’s the kind who is, at least rumored, to prefer spending time with Opera singers instead of ‘the ton’. There’s reasons for that. Okay, I’ll mention: Gareth’s father loathes him, and when Gareth learned why, he rebelled.

Gareth and Hyacinth (gah that’s going to be annoying to keep typing that name I can’t remember how to spell) meet not because Gareth wants to reform himself, or because he decided to crash a ball and seduce one of the ton (‘ton’ – the upper class people who go through ‘seasons’ coming out and looking for husbands/wives through balls/parties/etc.) – because he doesn’t do that, he doesn’t seduce ‘proper’ young women, he goes for improper (not marriageable). No, the two meet because Gareth is related to that old woman whose name I can’t remember, who is also friends with Hyancith. They meet when Gareth goes to his grandmother (great?) on a visit and finds Hy there (I do not recall Hy getting any nicknames in the book). One thing leads to another and . . . no a romance does not bloom, no a friendship erupts. Kinda. They are friendly with each other (also, they first meet at one of those Smythe-Smith music things, I forgot that; though Gareth did, accidentally, bump into Hy when she was reading to Lady D), but not romantically interested in the other. Until . . . they are.

I liked the book. I liked how it broke down. I can’t remember if this is the book where the male lead did something detestable, which made me lower the rating, or if that occurred in a different book. Mmphs. That’s what I get for taking so long to write review, and reading so many Quinn books in a row.

Rating: 3.75

May 3 2018




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Tuesday, May 1, 2018

Tokyo Love by Diana Jean

Tokyo LoveTokyo Love by Diana Jean

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This is the 60th book I’ve read (well 60th on my reread shelf, I’ve not always ‘properly’ recorded rereads, and some of those 60 rereads are of the same book), and 2nd time I’ve read this book here. Still only the first book I’ve read by this author, though.

This is a near future story set roughly 30 years in the future in the 2040s, in (mostly) Tokyo Japan. Starring an American woman from the Midwest named Kathleen Schmitt who works as the director of a the software part of a special project developing Personal Love Companions (a combination of a robot and a love doll designed to mimic real people – in feel and personality). Kathleen is seen through the eyes of herself and Yuriko Vellucci (more on Yuriko later). I mention so I can then mention that Kathleen is described as having especially kinky hair (the kind where someone’s hand will get trapped inside of it if they try to run their hand through the hair), especially chubby and having oversized breasts. There are comments made about how Kathleen, as an American, is ‘larger’ than the normal person seen in Japan (this is where my earlier comment about the POV being Kathleen’s and Yuriko’s leads me to note that a self-assessment (Kathleen’s) is suspect, and Yuriko, even though half-American and having spent years in the USA, hasn’t been there in years and is out of practice ‘judging’ Americans).

Right. So. Kathleen works as the director, as noted, and has been in Japan for about three months now. Knows roughly three words of Japanese, and has come to realize that just because many Japanese know English, that doesn’t mean she and they could communicate fluently. Which is important because the story opens with her trapped in the Japanese metro/transit/train system and is freaking out. In the middle of berating and yelling at a help kiosk Kathleen is saved by the other main character – Yuriko (I stop for a moment to include the part where the help kiosk is designed to be available to be used in many languages, including English, but was having trouble understanding Kathleen).

Yuriko, as previously noted, is half-American (and not previously mentioned, half-Japanese). Works on the same project Kathleen is working on, but in a different division (Kathleen is software, Yuriko is hardware).

Yuriko & Kathleen become friendly and bump into each other every once in a while. Their ‘bumping into each other’ picks up when Kathleen ends up being the pre-beta tester of a Personal Love Companion (against her wishes), and Yuriko gets pulled into the situation for several reasons.

This is where I mention that: 1) Kathleen has no desire to have the PLC, but can’t say no; 2) the PLC is made based on a brain scan – the ‘perfect’ companion is created based on the scan; 3) Kathleen is 200% heterosexual (not 100% because she is very very adamant that she is heterosexual and nothing but); 4) Kathleen’s PLC is: a) female; b) looks exactly like Yuriko.

Yuriko, Kathleen, and Ai (the name the PLC gives herself) then proceed to interact, explore feelings and ideas, be fluffy mixed with angsty, and do a little exploring of Japan – mostly of some shrines.

I loved the book the first time I read it, and down rated the first read through somewhat because of how long it took Kathleen to get from ‘I’m 100% straight’ to ‘okay, I’m bisexual’) – oddly enough, that wasn’t an issue this time (well, it was an issue, just it wasn’t a ‘must down rate book’ level issue). The thing that keeps me from rating this book higher than I did this time is based partly on how this book needing several more passes through the editing process due to extra words, misspelled words (more in a there/their kind of way) and a few other issues like that.

Rating: 5

May 1 2018



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