Quickie #7

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 stars

This book was a mixed bag for me. I struggled to get through it, so much so that it took me 3 tries before I actually succeeded.

Part of my problem with the book was that i had a very hard time accepting Daemon as a hero and a leading man. Yes, he was cute and had some good one liners, but he was also incredibly mean at times. He might has had his reasons for what he did, but honestly, he came off more as a bully than an appealing leading man.

Katy was a strong woman (and i loved that she was a book blogger), but as strong as she was she still somehow managed to fall under Daemon's spell no matter how often he treated her like crap.

Not a huge fan of the alien aspect, but it ended up being a somewhat interesting twist.

Catch Me by Lisa Gardner
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

What a huge disappointment this turned out to be.

Being a huge fan of this series, I went into this book with high expectations that up until now Gardner had always managed to live up to. This book unfortunately fell flat. Everything about it, the character interactions (DD Warren is usually one of my favorite female protagonists, but here she seemed to be a whiny shell of her former self, the "evil doer" and their story was uninteresting and pretty much the entire mystery aspect was boring.

One of the most disappointing reads of 2012 for me.

Sweetheart by Chelsea Cain
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rating: 4 stars
Scare Factor: Intense (Gretchen is one mean mama-jamma!)
Depth of Character: 4 stars
Steaminess: Warm (one highly inappropriate but still so-wrong-i-feel-dirty-but-i-can't-help-but-like-it sex scene)

The second installment in the warped and twisted world of Archie & Gretchen nearly liv=ves up to the first.

This book delves much deeper into the hold that Gretchen has over Archie. We know that she is evil...that she will be Archie's destruction if he gives in to his inexplicable desire to be with the woman who has not only killed countless people, but tortured and kidnapped Archie several years ago. But damn if seeing the two of them together again wasn't a fascinating, if beyond warped roller coaster ride that i enjoyed the hell out of.

Quickie #8

Broken Hart by Ella Fox
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

It's pretty sad that within a few days of finishing this book I actually had very little memory of what the story was about, apart from there being a lot....A LOT...of sex scenes. Now, I am all for a quick smutty read once in a while, but I usually prefer there to be some kind of plot that doesn't involve the main characters having wild monkey sex.



The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Having been a HUGE fan of the Percy Jackson books, i was of course super excited to read the first book in the spin series, Heroes Of Olympus. For the most part, this book didn't let me down.

Riordan has a knack for writing wonderfully quirky characters that i grow to love very quickly. And while I can't say that i didn't miss the presence of my beloved Percy (because I did. A lot.), i had a blast reading this book. In fact, I honestly think that it is impossible for me not to enjoy a Riordan book. They are always a fun, action-packed escape from reality that is much needed in my day to day life.

And even though the new set of misfit children born of the gods and goddesses of Olympus were engaging, I have to say I am thrilled that the next book is much more focused on Mr Jackson.

Quickie Reviews #5

Ten Shades of Sexy by Shelly Thacker
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A great premise....take some hot and steamy scenes from a few romance novels and put them all together in an anthology. Unfortunately, with the exception of the first excerpt (by Shelly Thacker) all the love scenes fell flat and ca me off as quite over the top and cheesy. Maybe the scenes need to be read in the scope of the actual book in order to work, but irregardless, this Kindle freebie ended up being very disappointing.

Down To You by M. Leighton


*shakes head*

I...don't...get...it.

Why do i keep reading these books that so many people are going crazy over? Lately it seems like whenever I do, I end up feeling like I am reading a completely different book than everyone else. Once again, I went into a book with high expectations based on my friends reviews (about both the book and the author) and ended up being extremely disappointed.

I am not going to try and cover the plot, as so many others have already. What I will say is that i pretty much had deja vu reading this book. Despite the fact that most people claim that this book was unique and that the ending was a huge surprise, i feel like I have read different versions of the basic story many times before. It reminded me a lot of On Dublin Street (another book that everyone else seems to love that I did not enjoy at all), in that both books shared the common bond of having truly insufferable heroines. In this book we have Olivia, who has the power to make every man she runs into want her desperately. The whole twin thing with Cash and Nash (hate the names...gah!) wasn't very intriguing to me.

One of these days I will pick up a book that everyone is raving about and be able to share in the excitement. Unfortunately, today is not that day.

Quickie Reviews #4

The Darkest Fire by Gena Showalter
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

When the wall separating Hell from mankind begins to crack and fall apart, a Goddess and a smitten demon go on a quest to save the world.

Granted it has literally been YEARS since I read a LOTU book (and I have actually only ever read the first one), but this prequel novella doesn't really inspire me to dive into the series any further. The writing seemed very over the top and corny at times. Especially when the demon is waxing poetic about how much he loves the Goddess, but how she will never love him back blah blah blah. I don't know, I guess I was just hoping for a lot more. Something to really catch my interest and make me want to continue on with a series that has been sitting on my TBR shelf for a looooong time. Unfortunately, this story didn't do it for me.

On Dublin Street by Samantha Young
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Unpopular Opinion Time:
I didn't love this book. I didn't even like it that much.

Dodges rotten tomatoes

I keep reading books that so many of my friends are going nuts over (Beautiful Disaster,Divergent , Captive in the Dark) and I feel like I am reading a completely different book than they are, because I have just not been impressed with any of them.

I'm not sure what my problem was with this book. Other than I felt like I had read this story so many times before. Troubled/damaged/insecure woman trying to make a new life for herself becomes the object of affection/obsession for a wealthy uber-alpha dog male. Been there. Done that.

I didn't like Joss and Braden as characters. I can't exactly put my finger on why exactly. But, i didn't feel the insane chemistry so many people said they got out of their story. I think I may have just read too many books with this theme and I am just burned out. Either way, I was disappointed. I wanted to be excited over this, but just wasn't. :(

Eternal Hunter by Cynthia Eden
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Oh Cynthia Eden, you do have a knack for creating some yummy heroes. They have just the right mix of Alpha Male & Protectiveness without coming off as either a bully or a stalker. The writing style can seem a bit...fluffy at times, but what the heck? I like that every once in a while.

This was a very quick read. As I have said in the past, the majority of Paranormal Romances are all about enjoyment...going on a fun, sexy ride (Unless of course your name happens to be J. R. Ward and then it's a COMPLETELY different emotional ballgame, but I digress...). And this book definitely fits that description to a tee.

Quickie Reviews #3

Fifty Shames of Earl Grey by Fanny Merkin
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I was all for reading a book that poked fun at the Fifty Shades craze (even though I did like that series), and while the beginning of this book was somewhat enjoyable, the jokes fell flat pretty quickly.

All i can say is, it was a good idea that the author chose to make this a short book because the juvenile humor was definitely grating on my nerves after a while. I actually had a hard time finishing this because I felt like the author kept making the same joke over and over again.

Not much else to say about this really. Fifty Shades is the perfect candidate for a spoof, but this book definitely fell short of the mark in my opinion.





Anything He Wants by Sara Fawkes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hard to believe I actually feel the need to write a review for a novella that is only 25 pages long, but here goes.

The highlight of Lucy's day is riding in the elevator each morning on her way to work. There she gets to sneak glances at a businessman who is the embodiment of all of her fantasies. One day, the two are alone in the elevator, and the businessman lets Lucy know that she hasn't been the only one doing a little fantasizing.

The comparisons to Fifty Shades of Grey are obvious. But, that doesn't detract from the sheer steamy goodness of this quickie. I would have preferred the author to publish the entire story as a novel, instead of in serial installments, but you can't have everything. Having said that, this was a very enjoyable first course. ;)


Bloodman by Robert Pobi
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I am always looking for a good scary read, and I had high hopes for this one. But unfortunately, this was a huge disappointment.

FBI agent Jake Cole comes back to his hometown after his ailing father has an accident. He soon gets caught up investigating a series of extremely grizzly murders, and finds himself questioning what is what isn't reality.

This book is very dark and brooding, which works for the premise. However the author not only went overboard on the minute details, but the characters tended to ramble on to the point where I found myself skimming ahead several times. It is hard for me to lose myself in a book if i find myself getting annoyed by how much the story is dragging. Bloodman could have done with some heavy editing, and probably about 100 less pages.

Several people have mentioned how shocking the ending was. I went into this book knowing absolutely nothing about the plot, but I still managed to figure out where the story was going, and what the supposed "twist" would end up being within the first 20-30 pages. That probably had a lot to do with why I didn't end up enjoying this as much as some other reviewers have.

Quickie Reviews #2

One Breath Away by Heather Gudenkauf
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A man walks into a school in a small town, taking a class hostage. Outside, as a huge snowstorm approaches the townspeople struggle to not only figure out who the man is, but also the motive behind the attack.

This book knocked my socks off. It has been a long time since I picked up a book and wanted to stay firmly planted on the couch until I had reached the end, but this was definitely one of those books. The author kept me guessing as to the identity of the gunman until *almost* the very end, which is always a joy for me, since I tend to figure out who the bad guy is pretty early on (i did figure out who it was slightly before the big reveal). The story is told in alternating POV's which i really enjoyed, ad it added to the tension of the story. The end of each chapter felt like it's own little cliffhanger, which was awesome.

I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a great whodunit and for those just looking for a good 'can't-put-it-down-for-a-second' type story.

Dark Citadel by Cherise Sinclair
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cherise Sinclair has a knack for writing a great story that manages to stay firmly planted in the lighter side of the sometimes dark depths of BDSM fiction.

Kari is brought to Club Shadowlands by her over-bearing boyfriend for Beginner's Night. Kari quickly decides that while she is intrigued by the BDSM lifestyle, she has had enough of her boyfriend's bullying ways and decides to dump the SOB shortly after arriving at the club. But, before she can leave, she is intercepted by Master Dan who offers to take her under his gorgeously sculpted wing and show her the ropes.

Dan has not allowed himself to form any kind of attachment to a woman since the death of his wife, so he believes that this will be a one time thing. Of course things don't go according to plan and Kari and Master Dan form a bond and lots of steaminess ensue.

This is a quick fun read and Sinclair definitely knows how to write about this lifestyle without overwhelming anyone. I'm a big fan of this series.




Cut & Run by Abigail Roux
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

FBI agents Ty & Zane are less than thrilled to be partnered up to investigate a possible serial killer. They are both considered somewhat troubled by the bureau, so on the surface is seems like a partnership made in hell. But, before long the two men have grown incredibly attached to each other, and learn that they work very well as a team.

It has been a long time since i read a M/M romance, and I am so glad I stumbled upon this series. I loved just about every aspect of this story, and Ty and Zane are a couple to be reckoned with. They are both intensely Alpha so it is always entertaining to see their interactions in and out of the bedroom.

The fact that I could spot who the killer was almost right off the bat, didn't really detract from my enjoyment of the story, because the mystery element was definitely second fiddle to the romantic aspect of Ty and Zane getting to know each other and developing the chemistry that by the end is absolutely blisteringly hot.