Brokedown Cowboy by Maisey Yates

Format: ebook, mass market paperback
Pub Date: May 26, 2015
Publisher: Harlequin
Length: 368 pages
FTC: ARC courtesy of the publisher

It's a happy, happy day when I get to read a book by Maisey Yates. She has a very strong writing voice which is funny, emotional, and not just a little bit sarcastic. Most are also on the lighter side, although that is not the case with this one.  All of that is to say that I tend to start every Maisey book predisposed to like it. It's also a friends-to-lovers story which are like catnip for me.

This is the second book in the Copper Ridge trilogy. I've read the first one, but of course didn't review it because I'm the laziest blogger on the planet. Or busiest. Whatever. We meet most of the characters in book one, but this is definitely a stand alone novel.

Review: Unbroken by Maisey Yates

Format: mass market, ebook
Pub Date: August 5, 2014
Publisher: Berkley (Penguin)
Length: 320 pages
FTC: ARC courtesy of the author

It's here!!!!! The book with the heroine named Amber who is NOT a bimbo stripper, buckle bunny etc. Woohoo! It really sucks having a name that somehow ends up being typecast as either the "quirky" bimbo sidekick or a stripper. Hell, even Veronica Mars's dingy undercover name is Amber. *Ahem*

I'm by no means impartial when it comes to this story. I've read (and loved) the previous books in the series, and I've been looking forward to this one for quite awhile. I was predisposed to like it, in other words, but the fact that it really hit all of my reader buttons is the real reason I ended up loving it.

This is a friends-to-lovers story, my very favorite trope in Romancelandia.  And it's funny and sarcastic. Button number 2. And HOT. So no big surprise that this really worked for me.

Review: Untouched (Silver Creek #2) by Maisey Yates

Format: ebook
Pub Date: January 21, 2014
Publisher: Intermix (Penguin)
Length: 313 pages
FTC: e-ARC provided by the publisher

After reading and enjoying the Harlequin Presents novel just after Christmas by author Maisey Yates, I went looking for anything new by her. Then I stumbled across this title on Netgalley. I'd been seeing vague hints on Twitter about the book that comes after this one...with the heroine named Amber...so I decided  to risk requesting the galley. I'm really glad I did.

The heroine of Untouched is young. Much younger than most of the heroines you'll see outside of YA or NA these days. But this isn't an NA. It's a fully realized romance novel. And while 22 seems incredibly young to me at the ancient age of mid-thirties, I was married at 21. So I'm not going to be too judgey about that. I'm not even going to be judgey about the 10+ year age difference between Lark and Quinn. But that doesn't mean there aren't some problems with the novel.

TBR Challenge Review: No Mercy by Lori Armstrong

Format: Mass market paperback
Pub Date: Dec 2010
Publisher: Pocket (Simon and Schuster)
Length: 379
FTC: picked up for free at RT 12

This month's theme is "something other than romance." And since I originally started the blog as a romance AND MYSTERY blog, I thought it was time to review a mystery. Most of my TBR pile is still in boxes from some room switching we did this spring, but I had my RT Convention books handy. And in that pile was No Mercy by Lori Armstrong.

I've read Lori Armstrong in her Lorelei James persona, but wasn't really sure what to expect of her writing as a mystery author. For starters, the styles are nothing at all alike. There are those authors whose books you would recognize regardless of who they are writing as or in whatever genre: Armstrong is not one of them. If I didn't *know* these were written by the same person, I'd never connect the two. Honestly? I prefer the James stories. And not just because they're filled with sexy cowboys and happily ever after.

TBR Challenge: Saddled and Spurred by Lorelei James

Format: Trade paperback
Pub Date: March 2011
Publisher: Signet
Length: 328 pages
FTC: received at a signing at RT

Late again... but I have an excuse this time. I was on vacation with no access to the internet.

The theme this month was western, and since historical westerns are my least favorite genre, I picked a contemporary that I received at this year's RT Convention. I figured that it's better to whittle from the top, considering how many books I brought home from that trip that ended up languishing in the TBR.

I normally love Lorelei James. Her books are spicy, but always seem to have some excellent characters with real emotion, real problems... Despite what can often be wall to wall sex scenes, I'm never really tempted to skim.  Unfortunately, that was not the case with Saddled and Spurred.

I can't quite figure out what's wrong with this book, except to say that after reading 150 pages of it, I didn't care to read further. It's just completely uninteresting to me. No memorable characters, no real humor or emotion. Nothing to keep me reading further. Very unusual for this author. It could also be the different publisher, because all of the other ones I've read have been published with Samhain.

I'm not sure if that counts as having "read" the book, but I made it about halfway through before throwing in the DNF towel. But at least it's no longer hanging around the old TBR.

Montana Creeds: Dylan by Linda Lael Miller

Book #2 in the new trilogy by Linda Lael Miller was a pleasant surprise! It was far better than the first installment (which was by no means bad). The characters were terrific, the story believable, and the romance incredibly sweet.

My only real complaint is that Ms. Miller's clear fondness for animal welfare becomes a bit too preachy and obvious at times. We KNOW how she feels about animals--we don't need to be constantly hit over the head with it.

I blasted through it in one day and am now stuck waiting impatiently for the finale.