My Weekly Reading: 8/12/12

Ok, lets start things out with an admission.  I'm fudging this week's reading wrap-up.  I haven't blogged in forever, and when I went to start this entry two memorable books missed my one-week cut-off.  So I'm cheating.  I may eventually go back and cover "Great Shit I Read While Not Blogging" but in case I don't, I'm fudging a little.  It's my blog, I reserve the right to do whatever the hell I want when I want to.

Anyways...


The Best...

All Fall Down - Megan Hart

Pheww.  This was a really riveting  novel about two women dealing with the complete upheaval of their lives.  One is dealing with the sudden appearance of her husband's surprise 19 yr-old daughter and her three kids, all of whom have spent the entirety of their lives in a cult.  The other, the surprise daughter, is dealing with a jarring assimilate into the regular world (or "blemished" world as she thinks of it) after having spent her entire life under intense cult indoctrination.  I was utterly sucked into this book but I have to say that I'm really glad that I'm one of those people who is utterly incapable of not peeking at the end of books because I would have chewed my nails off with worry if I hadn't known what direction things were generally going in.

Gunmetal Magic (Kate Daniels #5.5) - Ilona Andrews

This is a full-length spin-off from Ilona Andrews' incredible Kate Daniels series and it was sufficiently awesome.  Andrea Nash is Kate's best friend.  She's also a badass marksman and hyena shapeshifter and it's about time she got her shit together.

I loved this book.  From page one, Andrea is just stomping around Atlanta kicking ass, taking names, trying to move on from her past, and trying desperately to not let her heart shatter into a gazillion pieces.  Great romance, great action scenes, hilarious dialogue.. this book was awesome.  (Note: Absolutely cannot be read as a standalone.  Start with Kate's first book: Magic Bites.  You will not be disappointed.)

Here's one of my favorite quotes.  Andrea lecturing a teenager on "shapeshifter nature"...

"Boudas love this argument, because it gives them an excuse to do all of the wrong things. 'I'm sorry I screwed your sister and got my penis stuck in your German shepherd. It's in my nature.  I couldn't help myself.'  ... Don't be that guy."

Lucky In Love (Lucky Harbor #4) - Jill Shalvis

This series is so sweet and fun and this was yet another excellent addition.

I love how Shalvis plays on classic romance tropes but gives them her own spin. The do-gooder who doesn't stick up for herself is never a hopeless doormat, she just needs a little nudge to get things going.  The tortured hero who thinks he can never love and/or will never be worthy of love is not a mopey pain in the ass, he's a man steadily working his way back from a very dark place.

I can't wait to read the next couple in this series but I'm saving them for a rainy day.  



The Rest...

The Great Escape - Susan Elizabeth Phillips: I have loved many a novel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.  This was not one of them. It starts with a strange premise involving a runaway bride and her reluctant traveling companion, a biker named "Panda" and, sadly, doesn't improve much from there.  No chemistry between the leads.  No good angst.  No awesome grovel scene at the end (SEP writes the best grovels).  Not a SEP I'd recommend.

The Bro-Magnet - Lauren Baratz-Logsted: How is a man's man who is beloved by all members of the male species but loathed by all of the ladies supposed to settle down and find love?  By following almost every cliched romance advice in the book, apparently.  This book was very silly and more than a little predictable at times.  But it was also rather hilarious and all-around enjoyable so I'll give it a pass.

Can't Buy Me Love - Molly O'Keefe: I don't know what the problem is, but this book just did not hook me emotionally at all.  It's got an ex-gold-digger heroine, an angry jock hero, and great characters with realistic and complex motivations and everything.  Still didn't work for me.



Up Next Week: Courtney Milan hits another one out of the park and hopefully I keep moving books off of my shelves (both physical and digital).