Review: The Time Collector by Gwendolyn Womack

Format: Trade Paperback
Pub Date: April 16, 2019
Publisher: Picador
Length: 386 pages
POV: 3rd, past
FTC: Review copy courtesy of the publisher

Way back when, in the days before college burnout, I was going to be a history teacher. Even though that never worked out, my love of history has never waned. This book made that nerdy bookworm happy, with its vignettes of various historical events and people.

Roan West is a psychometrist. He can see and experience the past of objects he touches. Sometimes he makes money with it, sometimes he uses it to return lost family heirlooms to their rightful owners. His friend, Stuart, has gone missing, but he gets sidetracked on his quest to find him by a viral video of a young woman just discovering her psychometry talents.

This is a genre-bending book. It has romantic elements, a mystery/thriller element, a historical fiction element, some mild paranormal themes, a quest...Pieces from all kinds of stories are woven in here, but I particularly liked how vivid and well researched the historical "flashback" scenes were. The author chooses some particularly painful events to tie to objects, and doesn't shy away from showing those events with unflinching honesty.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I did feel like the romance was a little shoehorned in. The author tells us the two characters are attracted to each other instead of showing us. I wanted some more emotion there on the page, because while this isn't genre romance, it is a book about all kinds of relationships, and the emotional connection just seemed muted.

My Grade: B
The Blurb:
Travel through time with the touch of a hand.
Roan West can perceive the past of any object he touches. A highly skilled psychometrist, he uses his talents to find and sell valuable antiques, but his quiet life in New Orleans is about to change. Stuart, a fellow psychometrist and Roan's close friend, has used his own abilities to unearth several "ooparts"―out-of-place artifacts that challenge recorded history. Soon after the discovery, Stuart disappears, making him one of several pyschometrists who have recently died or vanished. When Roan comes across a viral video of a young woman who has discovered a priceless pocket watch just by "sensing" it, he knows he has to warn her―but will Melicent Tilpin listen? And can Roan find Stuart before it's too late? The quest for answers will lead Roan and Melicent around the world, bringing them closer to each other and a startling truth.

Review: Block Shot by Kennedy Ryan

Format: ebook
Pub Date: September 2018
Publisher: self published
Length: 444 pages
POV: Alternating 1st/present
FTC: Borrowed via Kindle
CW: Cheating, chronic illness, self-image/weight issues

As angry as I was for reading Long Shot by this author without being warned it was a book about domestic violence, the book itself was compelling enough to get me to try again. Because despite my well known aversion to present tense, I found Ryan's voice fantastic. But this time, the potentially "nope" content was out there and being publicly acknowledged by people on Twitter, so I knew going in that cheating was part of this book. And that's something I normally avoid. (The official blurb does not have a content warning at all)

Since I'm not skilled enough to make a clickable spoiler tag for the blog I'm struggling to find time for, if you'd like to see how cheating is involved, specifically, please scroll all of the way down to the bottom. It is not between the two main protagonists.

The blurb says this is an enemies-to-lovers story, but that's not really accurate. Banner loathes Jared, for extremely good (if mistaken) reasons. Jared doesn't hate Banner, though. She's always been his obsession. He needles her whenever they interact, which up until this book starts isn't often. He hasn't been able to convince her that what she believes happened, didn't actually go down the way she thinks it did, but that doesn't stop him from admiring everything about her.

If you prefer your romance without ethically or morally dubious stuff, this book isn't for you. Because while Banner is a good person (the agent with the heart known for her loyalty) Jared isn't. He is completely and utterly ruthless about everything. Even with his POV scenes, he's hard to really like. Possible sociopath. Definitely not caring about anything or anyone except for Banner and maybe his immediate family.

That being said, I was completely sold on this romance. I know nothing about sports, and less about sports management, but the emotional punch and the depth of conflict here is terrific. The chemistry is completely off the charts. I really liked it, despite my reservations.

My Grade: A


The Blurb:

A STANDALONE second chance, enemies-to-lovers romance set in the cutthroat world of sports management.

They're two sharks in a fish tank...
JARED

If I had a dollar for every time Banner Morales made my heart skip a beat...
The heart everyone assumes is frozen over.
Her anger is... arousing.
Every glare from those fire-spitting eyes, every time she grits her teeth, gets me... well, you know.
If I had a dollar for every time she's put me in my place, I'd be an even richer man.
I'm a successful sports agent because I assume "no" means you'll think about it.
I'm sure what you meant to say is "Coming right up."
They say even rich men don't always get what they want, but those men don't know how to play the game. The trick is to keep them guessing.
Take Banner. She assumes she's winning, but this game?
She doesn't even know how to play.

BANNER

If I had a dollar for every time Jared Foster broke my heart, I'd have exactly one dollar.
One night. One epic fail. One dollar... and I'm out.
I've moved on.
I've found success in a field ruled by men.
Anything they can do, I have done better.
They can keep the field while I call the shots, blocking them when I have to.
And Jared has the nerve to think he gets a second chance?
Boy, please. Go sit down. Have several seats.
I'll just be over here ignoring the man carved from my fantasies with a lust-tipped chisel.
Oh, I didn't say the struggle wasn't real.
But I've got that one dollar, and Jared won't have me.

***Spoiler***




Banner is in a committed relationship with her client. Someone she has been friends with for a decade, but recently made the switch to romantic. She's not really sure whether she's made a mistake, because she is pretty sure she's not in love. Jared knows she's involved, and despite her protests, uses their attraction to basically override Banner's usually strong loyalty. Banner had intended to end her relationship prior to sleeping with Jared, but that's not how things shake out. She immediately confesses to her boyfriend upon his return to town. It's out of character, and for me...I know real life examples of this, and Ryan manages to...if not excuse it...then at least make it understandable about how it could happen and why that infidelity wouldn't happen again between Jared and Banner.

Review: SPOILERS!!! Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan

Format: ebook
Pub Date: March 20, 2018
Publisher: self published
Length: 460 pages
POV: Alternating 1st/present
FTC: purchased myself

I am a not a fan of 1st person, present tense. I am not a NA reader. I have noped out of so many books because they're present tense. I am also not someone for whom highly buzzed books works. I'm just that way. Born to be contrary. I am also not someone usually bothered by problematic or troubling content. Content warnings are usually wasted on me, because I can usually stomach just about anything. THIS BOOK BOTHERED ME. ***scroll down to the very end if you're looking for how the story ends.***

Before going further, please know that even the descriptions of what happens in this book may be triggering for some readers. It's THAT awful. And I don't normally write reviews with spoilers or plot synopses, but I am so angry right now that nothing in the description or the reviews specifically warned readers of the type of content in this book. It's hinted at, but hidden behind euphemisms.

This book contains graphic details of emotional and physical domestic violence, firearms, and sexual assault/rape. And it's not just at the beginning. It is the bulk of the conflict of the novel. So this isn't something you can read and move past to enjoy the rest of the story. IT IS THE STORY.

Review: Ready to Run by Lauren Layne

Format: ebook
Pub Date: August 22, 2017
Publisher: Loveswept
Length: 215 pages
POV: 3rd past
FTC: Purchased myself

I binged my way through Lauren Layne's backlist last May, but stopped when I found books that were written in first person, present tense (a combination I cannot stand). I had seen this one, but discounted it because I personally despise reality television and this book seemed entirely about a TV show based on the blurb.

It must have been on sale, because I finally caved and purchased the book. Most of the Lauren Layne books I've read in the past were set in the big city. This was a bit different for me. It's a city girl visiting a small town. Classic fish out of water. I was pleasantly surprised by how well Layne's voice works in the small town romance.

I had a few issues with the unevenness of how some characters are dealt with. We spend quite a lot of time with the first two brides, and none with the third. There's a spoiler-y reason for this, but it still feels a little weird how that entire situation is dealt with. Also missing are any real details about Luke's job. The small town setting seems sketched in, with only broad strokes.

The standard group of non-catty girl friends that often appear in Layne books is present here, too, which I liked, but I felt like we almost spent too much time with the secondary characters. This wasn't my favorite Layne book, but it was a quick, easy read.

My Grade: B-

The Blurb:
Jordan Carpenter thinks she’s finally found the perfect candidate for Jilted, a new dating show about runaway grooms: firefighter Luke Elliott, a known player who’s left not one but three brides at the altar. The only problem? Luke refuses to answer Jordan’s emails or return her calls. Which is how she ends up on a flight to Montana to recruit him in person. It’s not Manhattan, but at least the locals in Lucky Hollow seem friendly . . . except for Luke, who’s more intense—and way hotter—than the slick womanizer Jordan expected.

Eager to put the past behind him, Luke has zero intention of following this gorgeous, fast-talking city girl back to New York. But before he can send her packing, Jordan’s everywhere: at his favorite bar, the county fair, even his exes’ book club. Annoyingly, everyone in Lucky Hollow seems to like her—and deep down, she’s starting to grow on him too. But the more he fights her constant pestering, the more Luke finds himself wishing that Jordan would kick off her high heels and make herself comfortable in his arms.

Review: Blood is Blood by Will Thomas (Barker and Llewelyn)

Format: Hardcover
Pub Date: November 2018
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Length: 308 pages
POV: 1st person, past
FTC: review copy courtesy of the publisher

I haven't read a lot of historical mysteries in 1st person, so this was a bit of a change for me. This book is also in the middle of a series, so I'm not sure I'd have had the same reading experience if I'd been following the series all along.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I really liked the overall mystery and the setting and characters. On the other, I felt like it was missing some emotional depth, which is likely because I'm a character-centric reader. I want their thoughts and feelings on the page, and the emotions in particular were largely absent here, which I found weird considering the emotional events that form the focus of the book.

I have never read Will Thomas, nor had I heard of this series before, but I love historical mysteries and decided to give it a chance. The book begins with a bit of the Monday blues and an absentminded groom-to-be not listening to his fiance, then promptly devolves into chaos as the office of Barker Private Inquiries is blown to smithereens.

Review: Fast Falls the Night by Julia Keller (a Bell Elkins novel)

Format: Trade Paperback
Pub Date: July 2018, copyright 2017
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Length: 286 pages
POV: 3rd alternating past
FTC: review copy courtesy of the publisher
CW: drug overdose

I read this months ago, and posted a brief mini review on Instagram here, but I felt like I hadn't really covered what I wanted to cover about this book. I read a lot, I mean A LOT, and I'm still thinking about this book six months later. Partly because my region just experienced a smaller version of what happens in the novel, and partly because it was such a unique and timely book which was sadly, inspired by a real 24 hour period of mass overdoses in West Virginia.

The novel takes place over the course of 24 hours, and while I was never a fan of the series, 24, I can see the appeal of using that time constraint to serve as a narrative structure. It works incredibly well here, as we watch events unfold through a variety of points of view: Bell Elkins, a prosecutor, the EMS and hospital staff, the families of those saved and those lost. Each chapter begins with a time, and as the novel progresses, the reader feels Bell's growing horror over the escalation of deaths as more and more overdoses happen on her turf.

Also mixed in is some back story about Bell's childhood, which (probably because I haven't read any other books in the series) feels a bit disconnected from the rest of the narrative. But the events of the past mix with the events of the present to add further stress to an already overwhelmed Bell.

This isn't a long book, but Keller manages to squeeze a lot of tension into it and a lot of nuance about life in poverty. I was very impressed by how even secondary characters are fleshed out and felt believable. Even if they didn't spend a lot of time on the page.

My only quibble, and this comes 100% from my personal preference, is that the ending is a bit of a cliffhanger. The primary mystery is solved, sort of, but the threads are left hanging in an obvious sequel baiting way that I found unsatisfying. 

I wish we saw more authors like Keller who avoid using cliches about the poor and really dig deep into what drives people to make the decisions they do. I was very impressed with the nimble way she switched from character to character while making the reader care about all of them. No shortcuts, no easy fall back onto tired stereotypes. It's not often that I read a mystery with written with such obvious care. For that, and for the timely topic, I recommend this book!

My Grade: A-

The Blurb:

Based on a real-life event, Pulitzer Prize-winner Julia Keller’s latest Bell Elkins novel Fast Falls the Night takes place in a single 24-hour period, unfurling against the backdrop of a shattering personal revelation that will change Bell’s life forever.
The first drug overdose comes just after midnight, when a young woman dies on the dirty floor of a gas station bathroom. To the people of the small town of Acker’s Gap, West Virginia, it is just another tragedy. It is sad—but these days, depressingly familiar.
But then there is another overdose. And another. And another.

Prosecutor Bell Elkins soon realizes that her Appalachian hometown is facing its starkest challenge yet: a day of constant heroin overdoses from a batch tainted with a lethal tranquilizer. While the clock ticks and the bodies fall, Bell and her colleagues desperately track the source of the deadly drug—and engage in fierce debates over the wisdom of expending precious resources to save the lives of self-destructive addicts.

Review: Hot Winter Nights by Jill Shalvis

Format: ebook
Pub Date: September 25, 2018
Publisher: Avon
Length: 384 pages
POV: 3rd Past
FTC: Purchased myself
Disclosure: I pretty much enjoy everything Jill writes

I'm a character-centric mood reader. Which means that I quite often pick up books that I know I'd enjoy if I were in a different mood, only to set them down after 20 pages. I never do that with Jill's books, because even if I'm in a shitty mood (more often now given the state of things nationally and the fact that I'm raising teens) Jill's books comfort me, make me smile, make me laugh, and in general give me the book equivalent of a cookie. Or three.

I truly don't know how she does it, but her books have the right blend of emotion (without ripping out your heart) humor (without turning the book into a comedy) and heat (without making me skim the sex scenes). They're my comfort reads.

That's not to say this book was perfect. I had some issues with one section in particular, either because of my poor reading comprehension skills these days or because of continuity errors.  I literally could not figure out whether the power was off or on during one pivotal scene where it truly mattered. 

Lucas and Molly are both great characters, and I really enjoyed their reluctant romance. I also loved that Lucas is 100% supportive of Molly's attempt to become a more active part of the investigation team. It's internal emotional scars, rather than asshat sexism that provides the conflict.

Although the blurb reads like a holiday novel, the holiday aspects are confined almost exclusively to a Christmas village fraud case that Molly and Lucas end up working on. There are a few references, here and there, but this didn't feel like a book you'd only want to read during the winter holiday season.

I'm bummed I read this book in two days, mostly sitting in the car waiting on kids, because the next one isn't out until February.

Grade: B

The Blurb:

Who needs mistletoe?
Most people wouldn’t think of a bad Santa case as the perfect Christmas gift. Then again, Molly Malone, office manager at Hunt Investigations, isn’t most people, and she could really use a distraction from the fantasies she’s been having since spending the night with her very secret crush, Lucas Knight. Nothing happened, not that Lucas knows that—but Molly just wants to enjoy being a little naughty for once . . .
Whiskey and pain meds for almost-healed bullet wounds don’t mix. Lucas needs to remember that next time he’s shot on the job, which may be sooner rather than later if Molly’s brother, Joe, finds out about them. Lucas can’t believe he’s drawing a blank on his (supposedly) passionate tryst with Molly, who’s the hottest, smartest, strongest woman he’s ever known. Strong enough to kick his butt if she discovers he’s been assigned to babysit her on her first case. And hot enough to melt his cold heart this Christmas.

Man of the Month series by J. Kenner

I didn't post at all last month. School started and with it, all of the obligations and chauffeuring. I did, however, read in those few blissful hours of peace and quiet I regained after a summer filled with KIDS IN MY SPACE.

For anyone wondering if the free books given away at reader events lead to sales, this is a good anecdotal case study. I received the first book in the Man of the Month series, Down on Me, as a freebie at the last RT held in Reno in May. It sat, unloved, for a few months in my pile of books, but I picked it up on a whim.

I read the entire series last month. All 12 of them. Just one-clicked myself into a stupor. Part of that is that these are all connected stories with a really cute hook: a calendar contest held in a bar. And each book is relatively short (around 250 pages) with a very obvious (and popular) trope. We have secret baby, best friend's sister, second chance at love, friends to lovers, and lots of other favorites. J Kenner is smart as hell with the marketing and planning on this series, because it worked for me. As soon as I discovered I liked her voice, it was over.  My book budget was toast.

Not all of these books were equally good. Some were As, some were Cs, but they all were character-centric, hot, and hit just the right tone for my scattered, back-to-school brain to absorb between drop off and pick ups. The first book is free on Kindle still. Just make sure you set aside a week, or month, to read them all. The distilled trope-yness was exactly what I needed.

Review: Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone (thriller/mystery)

Format: ebook, hardcover, trade paperback
Pub Date: August 1, 2018
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing (Amazon)
Length: 282 pages in the trade ARC
POV: 1st person, present tense
FTC: review copy courtesy of the author/publisher at RT18

For those who don't know, Victoria Helen Stone is the alter ego of romance novelist Victoria Dahl. Jane Doe is NOT A ROMANCE. It's also written in first person, present tense, which yes, I know, I usually avoid like the plague. But if you read mysteries and thrillers, and if you follow Victoria Dahl on Twitter or have read her romances, you will probably enjoy this delicious book of revenge.

Reading this book was almost therapeutic for me. It’s like Victoria took all of the rage I’ve felt since Nov 2016, all of the disgust I’ve felt for mansplaining dudes on the internet, all of my frustration watching people make excuses for abusive dickwads, and made an outlet for it in the form of a book.

If you've ever watched her toying with the birth control trolls on Twitter, this book is a lot like that, but taken to a darker extreme. Jane, our narrator, is a sociopath, manipulating an emotional abuser while on a quest to ruin his life the way he ruined hers. She's used to analyzing other people's emotions in an attempt to mimic them, so she can parse every abusive manipulation Steven tries to use. The negging. The control. The digs about her appearance.

It's incredibly creepy watching as Steven tries to manipulate her. It's spelled out. But it's also kind of satisfying watching as Jane pretends to react the way he expects while also plotting how to use each and every one of his abusive tactics against him. She's dissecting his game in real time. It's one of the reasons why present tense works so very well. Because the reader is following along as Steven is attempting to manipulate her with Jane explaining what he's doing as he's doing it. It's incredibly effective.

For me, the suspense was wondering just how far Jane was going to go. Not even she is sure until the end exactly what she's capable of.

Hats off to the author for putting together such a raw and powerful book. Honestly the best book I've read in ages.

My grade: A

The Blurb:

A double life with a single purpose: revenge.
Jane’s days at a Midwest insurance company are perfectly ordinary. She blends in well, unremarkably pretty in her floral-print dresses and extra efficient at her low-level job. She’s just the kind of woman middle manager Steven Hepsworth likes—meek, insecure, and willing to defer to a man. No one has any idea who Jane really is. Least of all Steven.
But plain Jane is hiding something. And Steven’s bringing out the worst in her.
Nothing can distract Jane from going straight for his heart: allowing herself to be seduced into Steven’s bed, to insinuate herself into his career and his family, and to expose all his dirty secrets. It’s time for Jane to dig out everything that matters to Steven. So she can take it all away.
Just as he did to her.

Review: A Princess in Theory by Alyssa Cole

Format: Mass market
Pub Date: March 2018
Publisher: Avon
POV: 3rd, past
Length: 360 pages
FTC: received a copy from the publisher at RT18

I've been hearing about this book all year. It was all the rage in my corner of Twitter. In short: it was a "buzzy" book, and I rarely do well with "buzzy" books.  While I didn't click in the deep, OMG fangirl kind of way I would have liked to, I did enjoy it. Especially for all of the ways it was so very different from other books out there.

I liked that we get to see a contemporary set in the city. No whiff of small town here. It revels in being an NYC book.  There's the nosy and noisy neighbors, the subway, the easy access to different kinds of art/restaurants, the bodegas, the de facto multiculturalism.

I also like that Naledi Smith (Ledi) is a scientist. Specifically a former foster kid training to be a black woman scientist in a very specific field. She thinks in scientific terms in an adorably nerdy way. She has to deal with sexism in her lab job in a way that is so real for many women scientists. She struggles with relationships as a result of her upbringing. She's emotionally cagey.

I struggled with Prince Thabiso/Jamal as a character. I really did. He's a self serving dick through most of the book, and I'm a bit over self serving dicks right now. I did, however, ADORE his assistant Likotsi. If she ever gets her own book, I'm here for it.

Review: Duke of Desire by Elizabeth Hoyt

Format: mass market
Pub Date: October 2017
Publisher: Grand Central
Length:  308 pages
POV: 3rd, past

***Content warning: rape, incest, child molestation***

Elizabeth Hoyt's books are often gritty. They often deal with less than savory behavior. There's violence in them. But Duke of Desire should have a content warning on it. I found it deeply distressing, especially as a major character motivation deals explicitly with being raped by his parent as a child.

The plot revolves around Raphael, the Duke of Dyemore, infiltrating the Lords of Chaos (an evil group of men who rape and sodomize as part of their secret society). He rescues Lady Iris Jordan from their clutches under the guise of raping and murdering her "off screen" as it were. She shoots him, not realizing she's actually being rescued.

I had several issues with the plot and pacing, but for me...this was just too dark. I finished it, because Hoyt is compulsively readable, but it's not a book I'd recommend easily. Proceed with caution.

Review: Lady Rogue by Theresa Romain

Format: mass market
Pub Date: May 2018
Publisher: Zebra
Length: 277 pages
FTC: Received for free at RT18
POV: 3rd past

I'm a sucker for Bow Street Runner romances...err Officers of the Police. I love them. I wanted to really love this book, but I didn't. The characters are fine, the plot is...fine. But I did not really feel these two characters truly connected. The romance was extremely superficial. Other than the obvious class differences, there wasn't a lot of internal conflict in the relationship. It was all kind of...meh.

I did enjoy the mystery aspect, although that, too, was a little disjointed. There are several mysteries woven in and out of the narrative, and some are important and angsty while some feel kinda shoe-horned in. The big surprise at the end WAS a surprise, but the ending felt extremely rushed. Like the last 2 minutes of a film where everything gets wrapped up.

I think I would have liked it better if this were a mystery and not a romance. 

My Grade: C+

The Blurb:

As far as London’s high society knows, Lady Isabel Morrow is above reproach. But the truth is rarely so simple. Though the young widow’s passionate fling with dashing Bow Street Runner Callum Jenks ended amicably months ago, she now needs his expertise. It seems Isabel’s late husband, a respected art dealer, was peddling forgeries. If those misdeeds are revealed, the marriage prospects of his younger cousin— now Isabel’s ward—will be ruined.

For the second time, Isabel has upended Callum’s well-ordered world. He’s resolved to help her secretly replace the forgeries with the real masterpieces, as a . . . friend. A proper sort of friend doesn’t burn with desire, of course, or steal kisses on twilight errands. Or draw a willing lady into one passionate encounter after another. Isabel’s scheme is testing Callum’s heart as well as his loyalties. But with pleasure so intoxicating, the real crime would be to resist . . .

Reading Snapshot

Currently Reading:

 

I picked this up at RT18 in Reno at a Blind Date with a Book Party. Tables were covered with wrapped books and just the barest hint of the plot.  It was anxiety inducing for quite a few attendees, but this one sounded fun. I mean...librarian on the run? Yes, please!

So far, it's pretty good, although it's been a long, long time since I've read a book by Warren.

 

Currently Listening To:

I've read and listened to this series before, but it's been years since I've listened to more than just Book 1. This is a series that definitely needs to be read in order, but I do enjoy these on audio, too.  Highly re-readable, if you're a re-reader like I am.

Up Next:

I spent last year reading a fairly good amount from MOUNT TBR, mostly older books I got from the many RT Conventions I attended. I'm going to attempt to do the same this year (unintentional gloms notwithstanding).  This is one of the many books I ended up getting signed to me this year instead of signed generically. I had intended to give a bunch away...Oops.

The Great Lauren Layne Glom

Earlier this month, I was on Twitter asking for recommendations for emotional reads. I was stuck in a funk and nothing I was picking up was connecting with me.  Several people suggested I try Lauren Layne, who I had never heard of.

Next thing I knew, I had purchased and read 11 (ELEVEN) books by Layne.  I bought my first one before I left for the RT Booklovers Convention. I read at least 5 of them sitting/standing in line or late at night when I couldn't sleep. I just could NOT stop reading them.

I think I've finally poked my head out of the reading glom hole, but I'm still left wondering what, exactly, made these books work so very well for me when so many other books just haven't.

Voice
Characters
Emotion

These three things are essential to a successful read for me. It's why books that are well written but not distinctive are read and quickly forgotten. It's why I stopped reading a favorite author: her voice changed.  It's why I often times have issues with romantic suspense, because it's hard to squeeze both high emotional conflict in with real life danger.

The funny thing is that the 11 (ELEVEN) books by Layne are not my usual fare. I'm a small town contemporary reader. I love me some historicals. But I'm not normally a city-set contemporary reader. Just not usually my thing.

If you, like me, haven't read anything by Layne, the books I read were all stand alone. The series are connected, and there's a loose chronology, but I read them out of order and it didn't matter a bit. There's a favorite trope for everyone, particularly in the Stiletto and Oxford series. Best friend's sister? Check. Enemies to lovers? Check. Secret baby? Sorta! Bet? Check! Competition between the heroine and hero? Check! Second chance at love? That, too. So many well loved tropes.

The only caveat I have is that at least two series are written in first person, present tense (which I LOATHE) so make sure to check before one-clicking. The Stiletto, Oxford and Moretti series are all regular ole 3rd person.

Review: Deliver Me by Farrah Rochon

Format: ebook
Pub Date: March 2007, re-published November 2011
Publisher: Nicobar Press (originally via Dorchester)
Length: 337 pages
POV: 3rd, past
FTC: purchased myself (free on Amazon)

The first few chapters of this book are well done, with excellent pacing and set up. Then...it all kind of falls apart.

The hunky "Super Doc" Eli is a giant douche.  I pretty much hated him throughout the entire book. Not only is he a player who disrespects pretty much every partner he has, but he somehow ends up with not one but TWO semi-stalker ex girlfriends. I did not like how the book chose to make THEM feel crazy, when it was pretty clear HE was the one who failed to pay attention or take their feelings into account. I did not buy that he was just so charming and had a magic wang, and that's why two different women felt led on about their relationship status. (Although one exhibited extremely unhinged behavior which actually SHOULD have been a major red flag).

Also absent (I looked) was any mention of condom use. Now I'm not sure if it was a Dorchester thing or not as common in 2007 romance [I can't remember] but these two are BOTH DOCTORS. There's no way that wouldn't have been discussed, but there is no mention of it. No mention of STDs at all. No mention of birth control. Not even a 'he paused to protect them both" throwaway. I had to back up and reread to check because it seemed so odd.
 

Reading Snapshot

Currently Reading

Audio

Review: An Extraordinary Union by Alyssa Cole

Format: ebook, paperback
Pub Date: March 28, 2017
Publisher: Kensington
Length: 320 pages
POV: 3rd, past
FTC: Borrowed from the library

I heard about this book all of last year. All. Year. Long. From everyone. And because everyone loved it, I steered clear. I just don't seem to do well with buzzy books.

I also don't do well with American-set romances, so the chances of me totally adoring it were pretty slim.

While I DIDN'T love this book, I did like it. It's an ambitious, well researched book that doesn't sugarcoat anything about the history it portrays, which can be jarring when you're writing/reading in a subgenre that's usually based on fantasy. This is not a light read by any means, but it is a believable and deeply moving story about two people who find each other in the middle of the worst possible circumstances.

Easter is this Sunday? What?

Somehow Easter has snuck up on me again. I realized late last week that Easter Sunday was also April Fool's Day, which I can't remember happening before. Even though I knew Spring Break was coming, even though I knew we had community Easter egg hunts, the darn day snuck up on me. I'm blaming the weather, which seems to have found winter just in time for spring. Miracle March is a giant PITA.

Adding to my lack of preparedness was my uncertainty of what to do for the kids. They're too old for the Easter bunny, but do they still get baskets? Do I still hide eggs? No one warned me we'd have to redo all of our holiday traditions as the kids got older.

One thing we won't be changing is Easter dinner. Which is actually usually "Linner" in this house. We eat in the early afternoon to make sure we have enough room for dessert.  We nearly always bake a ham, which is glazed with a combination of Major Grey's chutney and apricot preserves. Sometimes we do pineapples, cloves and cherries, sometimes we don't.

One thing we absolutely do is make Posh Potato Casserole. It's full of high cholesterol badness, but we've been making it for years and years. It's a recipe from my 9th grade English teacher, who I recently ran into at a Rotary Music Competition. It was a little surreal introducing MY 9th grader to her.

What's on your Easter dinner table? And what are your traditions for your older tweens and teens?

Review: Hot and Badgered by Shelly Laurenston

Format: trade, ebook
Pub Date: March 27, 2018
Publisher: Kensington
Length: 432 pages
POV: 3rd, past
FTC: Digital galley via the publisher

Honey badgers are one of my favorite characters in Shelly Laurenston's shifter series. This new series is about hybrid honey badgers, which means they're even more over the top than the regular honey badgers.

I admittedly struggled through the first 25% of the book. It was disjointed, with a lot of chaos and confusion. If I hadn't read Laurenston before, I might have given up. The story really doesn't start coming together until about 30% through, which is probably typical for new series, but seemed weird given that this wasn't a new world, but a new spinoff in an old one.

The thing that makes Laurenston books different from the vast majority of paranormal romances out there is how the women are portrayed. There are no passive women waiting for their "fated" mates. Every single one is a warrior, and most are actually considered more dangerous than the men. That is the case with this book.

What I also love about Laurenston heroines is that just because they are badass, it doesn't mean they eschew things that are considered "girly" or feminine. Charlie bakes when upset or stressed (something I loved, because I am totally a stress baker). New here, but greatly appreciated, is the matter of the fact way that medication for mental health is dealt with. It's just a fact. Like taking a vitamin. It was simply discussed like any other health condition, which I liked and which made me realize how little we see of that in fiction.

I think this book needed an outside eye, someone who maybe hasn't read all of her books twenty times, because there is a ton of back story and world building that is just assumed here. There are also some incredibly brief cameos that won't make any sense unless you've read her other books. Don't start with this book if you're new to Laurenston!

More disappointing was the lack of heat between Charlie and Berg. It may have been me, but there was zero sexual tension here. It may also have been that most of the book is about the sisters and their antics, so the romance takes second (or even third) place in the narrative. At any rate, it felt like the author was far more interested in the caper aspects and sisterhood aspects than the romance. I really liked Berg, liked Charlie, and liked their slow slide into a relationship, but I wanted more desire.

My Grade: B-

The Blurb:

It’s not every day that a beautiful naked woman falls out of the sky and lands face-first on grizzly shifter Berg Dunn’s hotel balcony. Definitely they don’t usually hop up and demand his best gun. Berg gives the lady a grizzly-sized t-shirt and his cell phone, too, just on style points. And then she’s gone, taking his XXXL heart with her. By the time he figures out she’s a honey badger shifter, it’s too late.

Honey badgers are survivors. Brutal, vicious, ill-tempered survivors. Or maybe Charlie Taylor-MacKilligan is just pissed that her useless father is trying to get them all killed again, and won’t even tell her how. Protecting her little sisters has always been her job, and she’s not about to let some pesky giant grizzly protection specialist with a network of every shifter in Manhattan get in her way. Wait. He’s trying to help? Why would he want to do that? He’s cute enough that she just might let him tag along—that is, if he can keep up . . .

Review: The Echo Killing by Christi Daugherty

Format: Hardcover
Pub Date: March 13, 2018
Publisher: Minotaur (St. Martin's)
Length: 353 pages
POV: 3rd, past
FTC: Review copy courtesy of the publisher

After two recent mysteries fell a little flat for me, it was a bit refreshing to see some solid characterization and emotion again. I'm primarily a romance reader, although I've always read mysteries and urban fantasy, too.  I tend to gravitate towards the books that show rather than tell. Those that grip you by your emotions. This book is one of the good ones.

This is Daugherty's first adult book, having previously written YA under a different name. You couldn't tell if you hadn't read the author's bio. She does an excellent job with the grit and gore of two messy crime scenes without playing up the shock factor. I appreciated that. Enough detail to get the point, without wallowing in the carnage.

Harper McClain is a a local crime reporter in Savannah. She listens to the scanner and spends her nights chasing down crime scenes and hoping for a page one story. What most of her friends and colleagues don't know is that her mother was murdered over a decade ago, and she was the one to find the body. The emotional scars and inevitable fallout of the murder both fuel her passion for covering crime, and make her leery of forming close attachments. Until a similar murder happens on her beat.