So, yeah... the month of January happened... and I read some books. Here ya go.
The Best...
Shelly Laurenston's Pride Series: These books are paranormal romances with shapeshifter characters and I love them. They're so much fun to read - it's downright ridiculous. Laurenston is a truly hilarious writer and I just cannot get enough of her strong, aggressive, take-no-prisoners female characters. (Amz||Grds)
- The Mane Event [Pride #1]: This first book is made up of two novellas. The first one, "Christmas Pride," sets up the world and has a romance between a dominant Lion shifter and the badass human cop who he's been infatuated with since they were teens. The second story, "Shaw's Tail" immediately follows the events of the first novella. When Ronnie Lee Reed gets stuck with the task of babysitting a delirious lion, she has no idea what kind of trouble she's in store for. Luckily, for everyone involved, it's hilarious trouble. I loved Ronnie Lee Reed to pieces and she and Shaw are marvelous together.
- The Beast Within Him [Pride #2]: Smitty runs a security firm and is the alpha of his wolf pack. Jessie-Ann is a nerd goddess who runs her own tech firm and is the alpha of a wild dog pack. They have history. Jess's nerd ticks annoyed me a bit but weren't nearly as annoying as Smitty's insecurities. Not bad. Not one of my faves.
- The Mane Event [Pride #3]: Sissy Mae is a hard-ass wolf alpha and Mitch is a laid-back lion. They are best friends. This was really funny and Sissy and Mitch are fun as hell together, but their relationship has such a lighthearted tone that I found it a bit difficult to get attached to the romance.
- Bear Meets Girl [Pride #7]: (Yeah, I skipped 3 books because I wanted to read this one so badly. I'm not sorry.) This is a terrific opposites attract romance and possibly my favorite entry in the series. Cella Malone is a Siberian Tiger, a former marine, a professional assassin, a professional hockey player, and the reigning bare-knuckles fighting championship in her family of Travellers. (She's a busy woman.) But she quickly finds that little is more enjoyable in life than taunting a quiet, self-possessed polar bear. Police officer Alex Crushek is, unfortunately for him, the aforementioned taunted polar bear. Poor Crush.
- Howl With It [Pride #0.5] - A prequel novella set in the 70's featuring two members of the previous generation of crazy-ass Smith wolves. Eggie Rae Smith is a quiet loner whose steely nature scares the shit out of absolutely everyone. Everyone but Darla Mae. A really cute romance ensues. One of my favorites in the series.
A Negotiated Marriage - Noelle Adams: Luke and Molly's marriage is a mutually beneficial business relationship. That is, until Luke drops a "let's add sex to the agreement" bomb and things change. I really enjoyed this story. It's smart, and funny, and sweet, and sexy all at the same time. I just wish Noelle Adams had more books for me to read. (Amz||Grds)
Reaper's Property - Johanna Wylde: I devoured this damn book and then spent a 3-day-long road trip rereading it over and over and over again. This is a very gritty biker romance. The sex, in particular, gets very explicit and very raw. The hero is a gentleman named Horse (yes, so named because of the size of his penis) who is scary and overbearing, ridiculously blunt at all times, and in a motorcycle gang. The heroine is a woman named Marie who comes to Horse's attention when he brother gets involved with his organization. Two things I loved best about this book: 1) Marie holds her own like a champ and says "no" when she means it, doesn't put up with shit she doesn't like, and is all on board with the crazy aggressive sex. 2) Horse's POV chapter lets the reader know how he feels about Marie even when she doesn't and it's mighty reassuring. Johanna Wylde needs to write some more biker books for me to be obsessed with. (Amz||Grds)
My Steadfast Heart - Jo Goodman: A man out to settle a score. A woman determined to do whatever she has to to survive. This book kept me on my toes. It just kept zigging when I expected it to zag and I loved that. (Amz||Grds)
The Rest...
We Own The Night - M.L. Buchman: A military romance between two elite helicopter pilots. I thought the romance was poorly fleshed out and frustrating and the heroine being ludicrously perfect at about 17 completely unrelated things got on my nerves but fast. I don't think I'll be reading any more by this author.
Covert Seduction - Callie Croix: A navy seal has some explaining to do to the girlfriend he abruptly cut off all contact with while deployed. Not a bad story but there was too much going on, including a suspense plot involving corporate embezzlement, and I never felt very engaged with the characters.
Tied Up, Tied Down [Rough Riders #4] - Lorelei James: A Rough Riders reread. The early Rough Riders books are definitely less polished than James' most recent books. Keeping that in mind, I still enjoy this one. A reticent heroine too afraid to trust and a really good guy trying to do the best he can make for an enjoyable romance.
Catherine's Awakening- Johanna Wylde: Wild West sexy times! Woo!
Garnets Or Bust [A Federation Chronicles Novella] - Johanna Wylde: Interplanetary sexy times! Woo!
Archer's Lady [ Bloodhounds #3] - Moira Rogers: I kind of feel like all of the Bloodhound books all have nearly the same plot. It's an entertaining plot, but I definitely wouldn't recommend reading these back-to-back. I liked both leads and liked them together. Enough said.
The Tycoon's Convenient Wife - Ros Clarke: A category length romance featuring a "pretend engagement" plot. Not bad but not very memorable either.
Through Her Eyes - Beth Kerry: An erotic suspense novel with a psychic twist. It's a pretty standard Beth Kerry story at a nice price and I'd recommend it as a gateway book if you're looking to try out her pricier books. I thought the suspense plot was kind of shaky and relied to much on various characters not seeing the obvious.
The Italian's New-Year Marriage Wish [Brides of Penhally #2] - Sarah Morgan: This kind of reminded me of Grey's Anatomy (doctorin' and romancin') if Grey's Anatomy were set in a quaint English village. A wife wants a divorce; her fiery Italian (aren't they all) husband ain't giving up without a fight. The heroine keeps too many secrets to make her actions very sympathetic. I feel like Morgan's done more nuanced variations on this story since. (See: Once A Ferrara Wife...)
Destined For An Early Grave/This Side Of The Grave/One Grave At A Time [Night Huntress #4-6] - Jeaniene Frost: I really enjoyed books 2 & 3 of this series but these disappointed. Book 4 features a serious retcon (ah, retcon, how I hate you so) that was mighty frustrating. Cat and Bones both acted ridiculously immature and I wanted to shake them both at various points. The next entry just couldn't revive my goodwill and the last one just felt tedious. I still have a few novellas in this series to get through but I'm not super jazzed about them.
Knight [Unfinished Heroes #1] - Kristen Ashley: This book is pretty darn infamous. Knight, the epininous hero, is very much an antihero and the whole story has a very "Fifty Shades" vibe. Knight's an extremely controlling and dominating man but I didn't his demanding and controlling nature off-putting though, because he's very honest and upfront about what his demands are and what he expects out of his woman. He doesn't lie and he doesn't sugarcoat things. My main issue with the book is that Anya gives in to his demands a little too easily on more than one occasion and I would have liked to see her have a bit more agency and a bit more backbone. Overall though, it's not my favorite Ashley book, but I can say that I was never for a second bored while reading it.
At Peace [The Burg #2] - Kristen Ashley: This was my first foray into the more suspense oriented Burg Series. The heroine's a recent widow trying to make a new life for her teenage girls while still dealing with some bad shit involving her husband's murder. The hero has a really traumatic past and often acts like a dick. I didn't completely hate him, but the man sure tried my patience.
Next Up: February's recaps... coming before April. I promise. Also, expect lots and lots of Kristen Ashley books. I binged.
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