TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary

Smart Mouth by Erin McCarthy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary. This book has been on my Goodreads TBR list since July 2010.


Smart Mouth is meant to be light, humorous and sexy. It's definitely light, and it's very sexy. The sex scenes are numerous and well done. The humor was more hit-and-miss with me, but it was mostly enjoyable and few times even made me laugh aloud.


The only things that marred my enjoyment was the preposterous plot and the big chip on Reece's shoulder. Since her antics were suppose to be humorous, that part didn't work as well for me.

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Naked In Death- audiobook

Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

SOA Listening Challenge 2011- Give a narrator a second chance. Susan Ericksen. I didn't care for her narration of High Noon, but she gets great reviews for the In Death series.

SFR Reading Challenge 2011

I can now understand all the excitement over Susan Erisksen's narration of JD Robb's In Death series. For as much as Ericksen's reading of High Noon frustrated me, her reading of Naked in Death pleased me. In High Noon Ericksen tended to pitch her voice up at the end of sentences in dialogs, making all the characters sound like teenagers. (High Noon is one of my favorite Nora Roberts' books.) Not only didn't she do that here, but she also has great accents for several of the primary ad secondary characters.

This book has a great plot, wonderful characters, and solid writing by Robb, aka Nora Roberts. Ericksen's excellent narration rounds this out to a guaranteed winner in audio, as well as print. I already have book 2 of the In Death series on audio, and plan to listen soon.

4* in print
5* on audio
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TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary

Show No Mercy by Cindy Gerard

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary. This book has been on my Goodreads TBR list since April 2010.

2.5* rounded up for goodreads.


This book has what I like to call the "Swiss cheese" plot...so many holes you see through it. The action was entertaining, the characters stereotypical but still enjoyable, and the story gritty. But overshadowing it all were the plot holes from hell.


The chemistry between the leads was lacking, as well. In truth, I was more interested in the barely mentioned secondary romance. What saved this book were the amount and quality of the action scenes.


One last thought: Mystery and suspense have always been my favorite sub-genre of romance novels. Lately, however, I'm growing tired of the ever-increasing trend to describe man's inhumanity to man in graphic, horrifying details. That, and the persistent need to have a hero (or at times heroine) more damaged, more tortured, and more haunted than the last. There comes a time when a soul can be so damaged by their past that their ability to heal becomes questionable, putting any "happy ending" in jeopardy.

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TBR Challenge- General

Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

TBR Reading Challenge 2011- General. I've had this book on my Goodreads TBR list since Sept 2010.


Fun historical romance with the added pleasure of having part of the book taking place on a ship crossing the Atlantic. Overall I enjoyed the book, although with a few caveats. I'm tired of females that let men act like jerks then melt at their first touch. The imperious brothers (both sets) and all the intra-family (and inter-family, for that matter) fighting got tiresome. I was also a little disappointed in the scene where James finally tells Georgie how he feels. I always prefer those scenes to be private.


But even with the caveats, the romance was satisfying and there was some great dialog!


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TBR Challenge- General

Lessons From a Scarlet Lady by Emma Wildes

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

TBR Challenge 2011- General. This book has been on my goodreads list since August 2010.


This book was easy for me to put down, and I started and finished several books while reading this one. The writing itself was good, but the plot was implausible and the characters were similar to those populating so many other regency romances. A decent read, but nothing unique or out of the ordinary.
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TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary

Hard to Hold by Stephanie Tyler

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary. This book has been on my goodreads list since February 2010.


3.5* rounded down for goodreads.
Hard to Hold is a good military (SEAL) romantic suspense novel, although it doesn't break any new ground. The lead (and his two "brothers" who are the stars of their own books in this trilogy) are a bit "too" everything-- too strong, too fast, too tortured, too reckless, too handsome, etc. In fact, all the characters in this book are too angst-ridden. There was no normal to be found.


That said, the story was compelling and Tyler doles out the backstory in small tantalizing bits, insuring the reader keeps reading to fill in all the missing pieces.


Recommended for lovers of gritty, strong (but not mean) heroes and heroines with some backbone.

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TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary

The Last Enemy by Pauline Baird Jones

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary. This book has been on my Amazon wishlist since April 2010.


The author's strengths are her actions scenes and her wordplay. Jones writes some of the best action scenes I've ever read. They are tense, exciting, and well-plotted. I found this true in her sci-fi rom books, and It's true for the romantic suspense, The Last Enemy. Her way with words and phrases is superior. Even in this sometimes dark suspense, Jones makes you smile and even laugh out loud at the way the female leads looks at life.


Be cautioned that this isn't a light and fluffy story. It's gritty and the body count is high. Toward the end when Dani is enduring an exhausting ordeal, the reader is right there with her. Jones does a great job describing the characters physical and emotional states.


I admit to some problems with the first 25% of the book when I didn't agree with the choices Dani made, and felt her decisions hurt others. I came to understand her reasoning better as the book went on, but for a while I was stumped. Also, there was one part of the plot (dealing with Dani's online identities and who knew what) that seemed like a plot hole, although I didn't backtrack to see if I simply missed the explanation. (One reason I prefer print books. They're easier to search for information when you need to.)


Overall, very entertaining book. I found myself reading aloud parts to my husband so he could enjoy the humor with me. There is a lot of strong attraction and emotion between the lead characters, but it isn't acted on for the most part. There is angst, and it's very well done. There is an HEA.

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TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary

Home for the Holidays by Sarah Mayberry

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary. This book has been on my TBR list since Dec 2010.


I'll start with the caveat that I don't care for children in romance novels for the most part. It's rare that a child character is well-written or acts/talks in an age appropriate way. (FYI, some of the best children in fiction are found in Juvenile and Young Adult fiction, especially historical fiction.) In part because of my bias, Home for the Holidays was a good-but-not-great read for me.


Pros:
Sarah Mayberry is a strong writer and always packs a lot of plot and character development in her series-length books. Her dialog is strong (excluding the children in this case) and her ability to turn on the emotional angst is a plus.


Cons:
Besides the children issue, which is a personal quirk and won't effect everyone, I felt Home for the Holidays was unfocused. Mayberry has three story arcs involving the same characters, and they happen one right after the other. This type of multiple-drama story works better in longer books. Or it works better if one drama leads into the next smoothly, which didn't happen here. The three dramatic climaxes are abrupt, imo. Since we had several story lines to get to and finish, I don't feel Joe and Hannah's developing relationship got enough time.


Bottom line: Sarah Mayberry writes as well or better than any short-form writer I've read. I still intend to glom her entire backlist because a good book from Mayberry is better than many other series authors' best efforts.


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TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary

Hot Wheels and High Heels by Jane Graves

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: contemporary. This book has been on my TBR list since January 2010.


The first quarter of the book didn't grab my interest much. The comedy in the first part of the book didn't seem funny. The reader is suppose to find humor in a shallow trophy wife pushing forty who ends up being dumped with nothing but the rock on her finger by her embezzling husband. As the book progresses, we see some character growth in Darcy, and get to know John, the man who comes to repossess her car. After the author starts to reveal some of why Darcy is the way she is, the reader can start to feel sympathy for Darcy.


The relationship between Darcy and John is the strong point in this book. It's fun, funny, and poignant. Ms. Graves does an excellent job on the secondary characters as well. There is an emotional scenes toward the end of the book that definitely tugs at your heart. What starts out as a farcical comedy turns into a sweet and believable love story. While the early attempts at humor causes me to mark the rating down a bit, the change to a character-driven love story pushes it back up. Jane Graves ends up giving the reader that satisfying emotional punch at the end that so many romances lack.


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TBR Challenge- General

The Duke And I by Julia Quinn

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

TBR Challenge 2011-- General reads. This book has been sitting on mys shelf since August 2010.


There is a great deal to like about The Duke and I. It was an interesting take on the fake-relationship, marriage-of-convenience plot line. The writing was witting and engaging, and the banter between characters was delightful. Some of it was silly, but overall the book stayed above the "eye-roll" line due to the humor and the sometimes insightful descriptions of human nature.


Historical romances are by-and-large an untapped genre for me, so I look forward to discovering more books and authors along the way.


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TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary

Harvard's Education by Suzanne Brockmann

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary. This book has been on my TBR pile for about 6 months.


3.5*
Entertaining military suspense with good characters and a decent action plot. The writing was decent, the pacing and character development was consistent, and the plot was mostly realistic. Brockmann's brief scene outlining how racially prejudice our society can be was restrained but packed an emotional punch. While the book didn't sweep me off my feet, it didn't make me cringe, either, and that's a good thing. Harvard's Education was a very enjoyable way to spend an afternoon.


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TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary

Out Of Her League by Kaylea Cross

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary Romance. this book has been on my amazon wishlist since August 2010.


3.5 to 4 stars
The strength of this book is the author's characterization of the characters. Christa was especially well-done. Her PSTD was shown more realistically than I've ever encountered in a romance book. The growing attraction between Rayne and Christa was handled believable, as was Christa's reluctance to act on the attraction and Rayne's determination to give her all the time she needed. Very few women in real life recover from this kind of trauma by throwing themselves into a physical relationship.


The stalker, and the entire suspense plot, was well-plotted and a little creepy. Unfortunately, some plot points hinged on Christa making less than stellar decisions, but the decisions weren't sheer stupidity. They were decisions to try to keep living a normal life, and later a decision to put someone else's needs before hers.


Towards the very end of the book, the author chose to slow the suspense plot down and use some road trip to develop the relationship between Rayne and Christa. This part of the book didn't work for me. I found it boring and a little sappy. It felt like I was dropped in the middle of not-so-great Harlequin romance. Thankfully, this little side-trip doesn't take up too many pages.


At the end I was hoping the author would deal a little more with Christa's recovery from PTSD, since finding true love isn't a sure-fire cure. But overall this is a very good suspense story and a sweet romance. I'll be looking for more books by Ms. Cross.


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Alien Revealed by Lily Cain

Alien Revealed by Lilly Cain

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

TBR Challenge 2011- this book has been on my TBR list since June 2010.

SFR Challenge 2011- this book is 7/15 for the "Moon" Challenge.
2.5*

The writing is decent, but the book is short and the character and plot development isn't deep. I would call this Sci-Fi Romantica, or Sci-Fi Erotic Romance. The sexuality is integral to the story, more so than the actual romance. The idea is good, and it could have been written as a longer, more in-depth study of the characters and the situation while still leaving the steam-factor just as high. This short book ends up feeling more like titillation than storytelling. All that said, I liked the characters, the sex-scenes were hot, and I'd seriously think about reading something else by the author.


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TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary

Power Play by Nancy Warren

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

TBR Challenge 2011- Power Play has been on my wish list for over 6 months. June Category: Contemporary



3.5*
Entertaining and humorous story with very likeable characters. The opening scene made me laugh, and set the tone for the entire book. The characters were great, but not perfect. The attraction was there, but we didn't have to read about tingling body parts every paragraph. There were several sub-plots and numerous characters that the author wove into the story quite smoothly.


The book was sexy, but not as graphic as some Blaze titles. The love scenes felt about right for the overall light-hearted story.


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Faro's Daughterr by Georgette Heyer

Faro's Daughter by Georgette Heyer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

SOA Listening Challenge 2011- Relisten to a favorite book. This will be book 10 for the challenge.


A wonderful, witty romance by Georgette Heyer made even more pleasurable by the excellent narration of Eve Matheson. Faro's Daughter is one of my favorite Heyer romances because of the interaction between the hero and heroine. I love the clever dialog and the matching of wits between Deborah and Max.


As always, I wish Heyer would've taken us a scene or two past "the kiss," but I'll take what I can get. Heyer's witty historical romances are so much better than the rest of her genre.


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TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary

Hot Shot by M.J. Fredrick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

TBR Challenge 2011- June Category: Contemporary. This has been on my tbr list August 2010.


3.5* I confess I can't remember why I put this on my amazon wishlist, or my TBR list, but I'm glad I did. I've read several suspense books based on firefighters lately, and didn't have a lot of hope that this one was any better. But I was pleased to see a realistically drawn heroine, and a story with more emotional depth than I'd expected. There weren't as many details about fighting forest fires as Nora Robert's Chasing Fire but the characters were more fleshed out and more human. The writing and the story were superior to Wild Heat by Bella Andre.


Peyton is a reporter who gets trained as a hot shot so she can continue her series on people with dangerous/heroic jobs. She's trying to understand her late husbands dedication to his job as a SWAT member. She's dedicated, but I appreciate that her reactions on the job, as well as her stamina, seems normal instead of some superwoman. Peyton tries hard but she's inexperienced and at times terrified. Gabe is a hot shot recovering from a heartbreak of his own, and has a long held dislike of reporters.


The suspense plot isn't as strong as it could be, but the action inside the fires is exciting, and the romance is satisfying.


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