My Weekly Reading (10-21-12 and 10-28-12)

I was ready to incredulously declare this a smut-free week until I remembered that I read a book by Charlotte Stein, who writes some of the filthiest books I have ever read.   Oh well.  Nuts to that.


The Best...

Remember a few weeks back when I said I was hoarding Karina Bliss' backlist?  Well, I was in just the right mood for some short category romances so I raided the whole stash.

Like Father Like Son - Karina Bliss

I really liked this one. A spunky teacher helps a divorced dad connect with his ten-year-old daughter and then the two fall into a short-term relationship (that turns complicated, naturally) before she's set to return home to New Zealand.  The romance was really enjoyable.  However, this book is part of a multi-author series, and a significant portion of the story is taken over by the overarching familial drama.  While I found that stuff to be rather confusing and hard to keep track of, I also found it interesting enough (and superbly soap-y) to make me consider tracking down the other books in the series.

Weekly Reading (10/14/12)

A very satisfying conclusion to a somewhat frustrating trilogy, hilarious dragon shifters,and more..

The Best:

Tempting The Bride- Sherry Thomas

Only Sherry Thomas could take an amnesia plot and make it amazing. 

This is the third book in the Fitzhugh Trilogy which follows the romantic entanglements of a trio of siblings in Victorian England.  I enjoyed the first one, Beguiling The Beauty, which had an odd revenge/hidden identity plot and I loved the second one, Ravishing The Heiress, even though every page made me want to crawl into a fetal position and just cry my eyes out.

Helena Fitzhugh and David Hillsborough have way too much baggage between them.  She's fixated upon an old love who is now an unhappily married man.  He's been in unrequited love with her for half of his life but has spent so many years purposefully antagonizing her to hide his feelings from scrutiny that he's finding it impossible to break the pattern no matter how badly he wants to. Luckily for them, Helena's poor decisions and a not-really-all-that-selfless white knight move on David's part throw the two together and a carriage accident and case of amnesia gives them the chance to wipe the slate clean just long enough to start building something real.

I did not anticipating loving this book.  Helena came off really brittle and rather selfish in her sibling's books, David came off a bit too smarmy and pervy, and amnesia is such a cheesy plot device.  What hooked me initally is the depth of David's unrequited love.  He's not screwing around, he's a goner for this woman but he's also a hopeless mess.  He had me rooting for him almost right off the bat and never disappointed.

Gosh, Sherry Thomas is a great writer.  She sucks you in and then digs her claws in deep.  I've now read all of her books.  Guess it's time to make second passes now.  (Incidentally, the number of times Sherry Thomas has made me cry while on vacation: 2.  It's time to stop taking her books on vacation, obviously.)

Weekly Reading (Playing Catch-Up: Part 3)

Almost there.  I swear.  Lots of quickie reviews in this bunch.

The Best...

Beyond Shame - Kit Rocha

A kinky erotic dystopian romance with gang violence, bootlegging, cage-fighting, public sex, BDSM, girl-on-girl action, and some serious themes of female empowerment.  This book was definitely what I like to call a "kitchen sink book."  A little bit of everything there.  I can't wait for the next book to come out as I am on the edge of my seat waiting to see how the couple in that one will manage to bridge the seemingly insurmountable gap between them.  Cannot wait.

Note:  This is a new pseudonym and series for Moira Rogers.  I already really liked Moira Rogers work, but this is easily my favorite so far.  I love the new direction.

Weekly Reading (Playing Catch-Up: Part 2)

Well, here is my promised All Kristen Ashley: All The Time edition.

Kristen Ashley is a self-published author who writes massively long romance novels featuring asshole alpha males.  Her novels are such guilty pleasures.  They're affordable (the e-editions, anyways), fast, easy-to-read, and highly addicting.  However, they often can be found to be very lacking in the editing department, have rambling structures, and have male leads who can easily cross the line from "asshole hero" to "full-on asshole."  Nonetheless, I got totally hooked.


The Best:

Motorcycle Man [Dream Man #4] - Kristen Ashley

This book blindsided me.  I was completely unprepared for how hard this book knocked me on my ass.

It starts with heroine Tyra acting out of character by having a lust-fueled encounter with a sexy biker, falling down with a sudden case of insta-love, and then unceremoniously getting the heave-ho.  Only thing is, she maybe kinda forgot to tell the biker that she's his new secretary so Monday morning proves awkward and confrontational.  He has a no-sleeping-with-employees policy and she's pissed and too stubborn to back down.  Tyra's a very independent person who is used to taking the safe path and is not looking to make waves or get involved in a messy situation.  Tack's an aggressive man who thrives on a challenge.  An awesome romance full of passion and fighting and acrobatic sexytimes ensues.

Tack is not just a biker.  He's the leader of a full-on biker gang.  The misogyny rampant in biker culture was probably my biggest issue with the book but it didn't end up overshadowing my enjoyment of the rest of the novel.  I think that's probably because Tyra was good at not letting Tack run roughshod over her and didn't back down when he'd overstepped or crossed a boundary.

Did I previously mention how damn sexy Tack is?  He's a scary biker gang leader and a dominant, controlling, aggressive man.  He is also, in his own completely unconventional way, one incredibly sexy and romantic bastard.  A couple of choice Tack quotes:

 "We’re seein’ where this goes because we both want that. And we want that because what we got is hot and parts of it are sweet and parts of it are wild and parts of it are frustrating as all fuckin’ hell but all of it is alive."

 “No, baby, I’m not scaring you. You’re just scared. You give me a little more, you’ll see I’ll protect it. More, I’ll protect that too. More, I got that too. When you give it all to me, if it works with us in a way that lasts, you’ll never be scared. You’ll feel safe enough to have your eyes open, your arms up and you’ll enjoy the fuck outta the ride. I’ll see to that, Red, and that’s a promise.”

The day after I finished this book, I felt so bereft that I went back and reread all of my favorite bits (which pretty much means every single glorious knock-down drag-out fight between Tyra and Tack).  Of the four Kristen Ashley books I've read, this is easily still my favorite one.

My Weekly Reading (Playing Catch-Up: Part 1)

I am so far behind.  Here's me playing catch-up for a while:

The Best:

Captives Of The Night - Loretta Chase

This is a Loretta Chase that's been sitting on my ereader for ages and, since it's an older novel of hers, I expected it to be a bit rusty.  Yeah, no.  I really loved this one.  It's bent a little more to mystery than romance in tone and plot.  Mysteries aren't my favorite genre but I loved this one because it's atypical  in that the villain of the story, really, is the murder victim and the two leads aren't trying to bring his killer to justice so much as they were just trying to get some closure on a sticky situation.

The murder mystery may have been the main plot but I thought the romance was really strong as well.  The heroine, Leila, is not your average romance heroine.  She can be tempermental and closed off and when she flies into a rage, she's a force to be recconed with.  Luckilly, her hero's a reformed villain and he has no problem keeping up with her incredibly perceptive mind, cutting insights, and blinding rages. In fact, he finds her downright captivating.  I loved them together. Another great one by Loretta Chase.