Sometimes wrong is oh-so-right…
After a wrenching loss, Ben McDaniels tried to escape his grief by working in dangerous, war-torn places like Africa and the Middle East. Now he’s back in his hometown and face-to-face with Aubrey Wellington, the hot-as-hell woman who is trouble with a capital T. Family and friends insist she’s not the one to ease his pain, but Aubrey sparks an intense desire that gives Ben hope for the future.
Determined to right the wrongs of her past, Aubrey is working hard to make amends. But by far, the toughest challenge to her plan is sexy, brooding Ben …even though he has absolutely no idea what she’s done…
Can this unlikely couple defy the odds and win over the little town of Lucky Harbor?
~~
Ok so I don't want get rotten fruit thrown at me or anything, but this book annoyed the crap out of me. Like 100%, I want to kill someone, annoyed me. And honestly, I'd have to lay this whole at Ms. Shalvis's feet since it's because she's such a great writer that I ended up so annoyed.
Aubrey is back in Lucky Harbor trying to find a new place for herself and working to "make amends" for her past. It's a pretty basic premise but what didn't work for me were all the things that Aubrey is trying to make amends for had some pretty extreme extenuating circumstances, not the least of which being that she was in HIGH SCHOOL when they happened. Now I get that some of the way things snowballed from her actions was a little unprecedented, but in each situation it seemed to me that the individual harmed had been a huge asshole first. Almost every instance involved people in positions of authority who used their power to disparage, insult, and pretty much just beat down Aubrey because of things outside her control. How is it then her responsibility to make amends when things spiraled out of control? Or maybe didn't spiral out of control because honestly I can't feel bad for any of these people.
In the end I'm glad that Ben had a pretty big groveling session before the HEA because without it I probably would have been dissatisfied every which way with this book. And none of this is because Ms. Shalvis is a bad writer. It's the exact opposite in fact, because she was so good at her job of getting me to empathize with Aubrey that I couldn't understand why anything she'd done actually deserved atoning for. Go figure.
Overall Feeling - C
Series - ...8) Always On My Mind 9) Once In A Lifetime
*Title won on Twitter*
Slowly but surely I'm chugging along somehow, despite DC's (and most of the East Coast) UNENDING WINTER I managed to read a few new things. And some more to my TBR pile, lol. I just don't know how people do it - stress just kills my reading drive. All I want to do is curl up with a good book where I know everyone loves each other and the ending will work itself out, lol.So what did I end up actually finishing this month? Let's see....
The Grendel Affair by Lisa Shearin (B)
Seducing His Princess by Olivia Gates (C+)
Dark Wolf by Christine Feehan (B-)
Marked by Kit Rocha, Lauren Dane, & Vivian Arend (A)
Considering Kate by Nora Roberts
"For Now, Forever" by Nora Roberts
The Troubled Texan by Phyliss Miranda (DNF)
My favorite was an easy pick this month because damn if Marked didn't get me - it's so good!
NEW SECTION ALERT!
I want to try something a little different this month and instead of just highlighting what I liked best reading wise, here's what I also liked best BLOG-wise!
//"Small - Travel, Part Two" - I love Feather Factor's post on travel. She's incredibly knowledgeable and seems to always have the best advice when it comes to making the most of your time.
//"Finished AT-AT Rocker Reveal!" - I will never EVER be this crafty, but how cool is this rocker?! Jen and John did a freaking fantastic job and I love that their little test rider decided to do it in costume :).
//"slouch" - Atlantic Pacific is a huge source of style inspiration and this is post showcases a look I'm currently trying to cultivate from my closet: sophisticated relaxation. I have no idea if I'll ever pull it off, lol, but I love to dream.
//"Hidden Stripes :: Cropped top & Lace-up pumps" - It's all about the coat for me in this latest post from Wendy's Lookbook.
//"Monday News" - this is the March 3rd news edition from Dear Author but as it contains such gems as "DON’T BE A SEXUAL VAMPIRE OR A FRIGID FRANNY" I don't think it's lost its luster yet.
//"Let's Talk About Hobbies..." - It's always interesting to me to self reflect when it comes to hobbies. I'm a big reader but outside of that I think I'd have to say my biggest interests hinge on makeup and fashion. Which is a little weird to me when I consider them as hobbies, but I guess if you like what you're doing it can't be that bad? Hmm...
How about you all? Anything particularly cool that you read or saw out there on the internet? Let me know!
Three stories of passion, possession, and ink.
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Lauren Dane takes you into a brand new world in ALL THAT REMAINS. Summer Killian falls fast and hard when Charlie arrives in Paradise Village. But the heat turns all the way up when she learns Charlie is also with Hatch -- the man she loved four years before. While she's not sure she's cut out for a triad, neither man is going to give her up. (Metamorphosis Series, #1)
Take a ROCKY RIDE with New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Vivian Arend as she leads you back to the Six Pack Ranch. Anna Coleman might be the law around Rocky Mountain House, but bad boy Mitch Thompson knows that under the stiff RCMP uniform is a woman with a passion for speed and pleasure that matches his own, and he's not giving up until she's his. (Thompson & Sons, #1 -- a Coleman Cowboys spin-off series)
Kit Rocha returns to Sector Four in BEYOND TEMPTATION. A promise to a dying friend backfires when Noah Lennox finds that the girl he was supposed to rescue is all grown up -- and wearing O'Kane ink. He wants to protect her from the secrets of their past, but she wants him. And an O'Kane woman always gets what she wants. (Beyond #3.5, set between Beyond Pain and Beyond Jealousy)
~~
[Quick note - Marked is on sale at Amazon for $2.99 through the month of February!]
The is one of those rare anthologies where I wasn't only happy with one author's story - each one had something unique to offer and provided a glimpse into how each person writes their own HEA's.
Originally I was only interested in this collection for Lauren Dane's story. She's been a favorite of mine for years and even though this was going to be a foray into a new series for her, I trust her voice and was confident I would enjoy it. Which I did. I think she does a great job grounding her characters in a new future, creating sympathetic people who made choices they had to live by or atone for. I think my only problem, which I admit to being incredibly personal, was that I couldn't detach enough to really believe in how this future had unfolded. I've read too many dystopians where less women equaled less independence (for "protection" reasons) so to see how this society had evolved to revere women was a bit of a surprise. But like I sad - personal problem, I can't really attribute this to anything Dane did or did not do.
Vivien Arend's story was great, the kind of contemporary erotic romance that I like so much, but Kit Rocha's entry was the biggest surprise for me. I'd heard a lot of good things about her Beyond series but somehow none of the reviews I'd read had pushed me over the edge into giving her a try. Marked was the perfect entry in her world as it not only included cameos by characters in previous books, it also tantalized me with just enough information about the world itself to leave me wanting more. I'm pretty sure though it was the except from Beyond Shame that finally did me in completely - I gotta know what happens!
Overall Feeling - A
Series - Various
*Title won in a Twitter contest*
Skyler Daratrazanoff always recognized the miracle that was Dimitri Tirunul, a man beyond any dream that had ever engaged her nights. But she was human. Vulnerable. He was Carpathian. Nearly immortal. She was nineteen. He was an ancient. Yet she held half his soul, the light to his darkness. Without her, he would not survive. Caught between the two warring species, Dimitri has spent centuries hunting the undead to keep his people free, and humans safe. He had survived honorably when others had chosen to give up their souls. But now, marked for extermination by the Lycans, Dimitri found himself alone, and fearing for his life. But salvation was coming…
No Lycan would ever suspect someone like Skyler to dare mount a secret rescue operation. A teenage girl. A human of untested abilities. But she had something no one else had. She was predestined for Dimitri -- as he was for her. And there was nothing stronger for Skyler than her desire to see her life-dream come true. Whatever the risk.
~~
Before I forget I wanted to let you guys know that I checked out Dark Wolf from the library and you know what? It didn't suck nearly as much as I was afraid it would. Lowered expectations for the win!
I was half hopeful half dread-filled going into this novel because honestly, things could have gone either way for Skyler and Dimitri. Feehan has been one of my favorite PNR loves for what feels like forever, but these last few books have just not been good. With Dark Lycan the series started to be redirected to an enemy other than the vampires/mages and I'm not sure if religious zealotry is totally the best way to go, but we'll see. What really matters here is that the relationship between Skyler and Dimitri, which initially took place off screen, develops in a great way. The two of them have feelings for each other, but no matter how big a physical attraction, the things that happened to her when was a child aren't just going to go away. I loved the way Dimitri was accepting and respectful of Skyer's PTSD episodes and how he even helped her learn to recognize them as a part of her self that couldn't be rejected.
[Side note - I totally skipped all the healing chants stuff and most of the sex organ flower scenes. I'm glad that I finally checked back in in time to read Dimitri say that their sexual attraction wasn't going to be a magic cure-all, but the rest of it I didn't care about.]
I think I like the way the plot is shaping up and I have my fingers crossed that a particular couple are up next, so I guess I would say I'm tentatively hopeful about things?
Overall Feeling - B-
Series - .... 24) Dark Lycan 25) Dark Wolf
Mohab Aal Ghaanem once had Jala Aal Masood…and lost her. Now, as a new king, he can end the explosive feud between their kingdoms, and fulfill his parting pledge to the princess of Judar…that he would make her his wife.
Marry Mohab? Six years ago, the prince risked his life to save Jala, igniting her desires…only to betray her trust. Now the ruthless seducer is forcing her into a sham marriage. Will it mean a second chance with the man she still craves…or heartbreak when all their dark secrets are revealed?
~~
I have to admit that my feelings about this book are all over the place. The language and cultural references firmly place the story in the Middle East which I liked, but how the characters acted towards each other and the way the plot developed were not my favorite.
Despite Jala's strong personality she spends most of the book unable to resist Mohab, which seemed far-fetched to me because of their past. Even though Gates makes the heat between them seem real and I can believe to some extent that they have feelings for each other, so much of the book is spent dealing with the lies that have taken place before (or are being told in the present) that I have trouble connecting to Jala. I would have needed more time with her feelings, and I think a deeper understanding of what she has gone through, before their relationship would have really worked for me. Show me that Mohab is not a stalker, and that what they feel for each other is enough to withstand all those years apart.
It's a decent story with a lot of heat but I think the HEA would have been improved by more time spent on picking apart the emotional connection between the two (and without the sudden reveal at the end of why Jala was so opposed to staying married - I felt that whole thing was unnecessary).
Overall Feeling - C+
Series - 1) The Sheikh's Redemption 2) The Sheikh's Claim 3) The Sheikh's Destiny 4) Seducing His Princess (March 4, 2014)
*Title Requested from NetGalley*
We’re Supernatural Protection & Investigations, known as SPI. Things that go bump in the night, the monsters you thought didn’t exist? We battle them and keep you safe. But some supernatural baddies are just too big to contain, even for us….
When I moved to New York to become a world famous journalist, I never imagined that snagging a job at a seedy tabloid would change my career path from trashy reporter to undercover agent. I’m Makenna Fraser, a Seer for SPI. I can see through any disguise, shield, or spell that a paranormal pest can come up with. I track down creatures and my partner, Ian Byrne, takes them out—usually saving my skin in the process.
Our cases are generally pretty routine, but a sickle-wielding serial killer has been prowling the city’s subway tunnels. And the murderer’s not human. The fiend in question, a descendant of Grendel—yes, that Grendel—shares his ancestor’s hatred of parties, revelry, and drunkards. And with New Year’s Eve in Times Square only two days away, we need to bag him quickly. Because if we don’t find him—and the organization behind him—by midnight, our secret’s out and everyone’s time is up.
~~
The Grendel Affair was an entertaining start to a new series. Shearin takes some of my favorite things from the urban fantasy genre, namely familiar monsters, mythology, and real world locations, and combines them into an interesting new take on what happens when just a few disgruntled people get their hands on technology that really shouldn't exist.
Mac and her coworkers are quirky in a good way, each one showing the beginnings of a personality that should be great for many books to come. Ultimately that's probably the only place where I'd say this book was lacking: action and plot it had for days, but I wish I'd learned more about the how the people who work at SPI came to be there. But at the same time that probably would have been a huge boring info-dump for one book so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that we continue to learn more in future installments.
I'd highly recommend this to people looking for a new series in 2014, though it might not appeal to those who like a lot of romance in their book. There are hints of it here but it's not a major plot point or even really something that get's talked about at all until the very end.
Overall Feeling - B
Series - 1) The Grendel Affair 2) The Dragon Conspiracy (Coming 2014)
I think I'm going to give myself a break. I don't want to spend every month complaining about how I didn't read enough new material. That's not interested for you guys and honestly it's not a reflection of what my day to day book decisions are like. I enjoy re-reading books. I like immersing myself in the lives of characters/people/worlds that make me happy and life is stressful enough - let's not make reading stressful too. I'm going to continue to keep my eye out for new authors or titles (I even requested Dark Wolf from the library!) but I'm also going to allow myself however many re-reads speak to me and I hope you guys do the same for yourselves. Life's too short for unnecessary stress!
This month might have been all about Lauren Dane and Shelly Laurenston, but I'm easily going to give the favorite title spot to Krentz's newest contemporary romance. Love her!
Inside Out by Lauren Dane
Coming Undone by Lauren Dane
Hope Flames by Jaci Burton (B+)
River Road by Jayne Ann Krentz (A-)
The Beast in Him by Shelly Laurenston
The Mane Attraction by Shelly Laurenston
The Mane Squeeze by Shelly Laurenston
Beast Behaving Badly by Shelly Laurenston
