Book Review: Bared to You

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 2012
"If I were to recommend any book today to readers who enjoyed 50 Shades...this would be the first one I would offer....scorching love scenes."--Dear Author
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
Gideon Cross came into my life like lightning in the darkness...
He was beautiful and brilliant, jagged and white-hot. I was drawn to him as I'd never been to anything or anyone in my life. I craved his touch like a drug, even knowing it would weaken me. I was flawed and damaged, and he opened those cracks in me so easily...
Gideon knew. He had demons of his own. And we would become the mirrors that reflected each other's most private worlds...and desires.
The bonds of his love transformed me, even as I prayed that the torment of our pasts didn't tear us apart... (from amazon)

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Review
I got an e-mail a few weeks ago which read something along the lines of “If you enjoyed 50 Shades of Grey, you should read Bared to You.” Sadly, it had not been released yet, but I eagerly counted the days. I read some early reviews of it and they were overwhelmingly positive, which increased my anticipation even more! Finally, I had the book on my Kindle Fire (release day) and sat down to read, completely ignoring the assignment for my summer class that was due in less than a week and devoured the book. I couldn’t put it down and finished it the day I started it. It grabs ahold of you like a baby with a piece of candy and refuses to let you go.
Gideon and Eva were both damaged characters. I enjoyed that they weren’t perfect but not so damaged I couldn’t relate to them, even though they both had some moments you wanted to smack them upside the head. 
The book was well-written, interesting story, Eva and Gideon had chemistry that almost made you forget to breathe and steamy sex scenes. Eva’s model best friend was a great character, as was her boss and his boyfriend. My one main gripe about the book was really about Eva’s financial responsibility. Her stepdad was rich, her biological dad was a police officer. At the beginning of the book, she says something about not being able to pay for her student loans so she let her real dad take care of them (we’ll forget also for a moment we find out later she has a nest egg she refuses to touch that started at 5 million and has been growing under the watchful care of her step dad but she can’t use the interest or the investment returns and her middle class dad has to pay for it?) Then later she buys a very expensive ring? Not acceptable to me. I get that it’s fiction and she has many people in her life that are wealthy, but that just seemed wrong. OK, I’ll stop griping about that now .
I didn’t even finish reading the book before I recommended it to my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. Mother-in-law LOVED it, haven’t heard from sister-in-law. If you enjoyed 50 shades (and even if you didn’t like 50 Shades but you like steamy books every now and again), you should give this a read. Not for younger readers (I won’t let my teenage daughter read it yet).
Sensuality: several descriptive sex scenes
Rating: 4 stars

Book Review: Forgotten Father

 

Book Description

Publication Date: November 19, 2011

When Delanie Carlyle wakes in the hospital after a car accident, she discovers she cannot remember the past month of her life…and to her dismay, she’s newly pregnant. With no husband or lover in her life, she must take care of her child alone and then an elderly friend dies and she must deal with the complications presented by a large, unexpected inheritance.
Eighteen months later, Mitchell Riese meets again the woman who has stolen half his inheritance. Delanie knew who Mitchell was when she fell into conversation with the dark, handsome tycoon at a cocktail party celebrating the re-opening of his grandfather’s historic resort. She has supervised the restoration of the massive turn-of-the-century hotel and, in the process, has earned the fond affection of the irascible, elderly Donovan Riese.
Mischievously, Delanie parries Mitchell’s attempts to learn her name. But somewhere between the casual conversation and the sparkling champagne, she falls instantaneously, head-overin love with Donovan Riese’s sexy grandson. After a night of glorious passion, she wakes and slips away from his bed, still awash in the glow of finally having found her soul mate.
At breakfast later that morning, Delanie waits with teasing expectancy when Donovan introduces her to his grandson, Mitchell. When the man she thought was her hero viciously attacks her for supposedly taking advantage of his grandfather, Delanie runs away, only to crash her car in her distress and wake up...having forgotten with whom she made a baby. (from amazon)

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Review

 

I enjoy reading independent authors because discovering a really good new author is such a great surprise. When I read independent authors, sometimes I find grammatical mistakes, spelling errors, word choice problems. All of those are very fixable and if I really like the story, the characters, the chemistry, I’ll shoot the author an e-mail and tell him/her about it so they can fix it. I won’t do that with this book.

 

Forgotten Father by Carol Rose has an interesting premise, but I disliked this book intensely, mostly because the hero is a misogynistic asshole. I read the book on my iPhone and there were so many times I wanted to throw my phone up against the wall when I read Mitchell talk about how all women are money-grubbing whores. The author had the good sense to not actually use that word in the text, but it’s strongly suggested on more than one occasion. I’m getting mad again just writing about it. He had no redeeming qualities whatsoever and did not deserve the heroine at all.

 

Delanie wasn’t the best heroine either. She was just OK. I recognize the author was attempting to make her a multi-faceted character, but she came off as a bit like a person who has multiple personality disorder might be portrayed. It seemed incongruous that she was a smooth-talking situation smoother and then not be able to verbally defend herself. The resolution was too-pat and too fast. I realize people can have aha! moments and change, but given the depth of Mitchell’s hatred of women, it was not well-done at all.  

I should also add that one of my least favorite storylines is The Misunderstanding.If you really like that type of story, you might like the book, but characters who don’t communicate well and continually misinterpret each other’s actions irritates me at best and angers me at worst. If you couldn’t tell, this one angered me . I do not recommend this book and I’m not sure I’d read another of her books, at least for a while, hopefully I’ll forget this book soon.

Sensuality: a few sex scenes, not terribly graphic, decently written

Rating: 1 star

Quick List of Good Books Read

Disclaimer: I’ve read quite a few more books than this, generally 3-5 a week, but many are ultimately forgettable, so if I’ve remembered it long enough to post it here, it would definitely be worth the read-time (3-5 stars).

 

Lover Reborn by JR Ward

This was one of the more enjoyable BDB books. It was a nice blast from the past with some character updates. The story was necessarily slow, taking place over a year. I wanted to smack Tohr so many times for his harshness. No’One and Tohr both showed a great deal of character development, as did Xhex and John. I don’t really care much for Xhex but she had a great part in this series entry. I am very interested to see where JR Ward goes from here.

 

Shades of Grey trilogy by EL James

This was originally a fan fiction piece for Twilight, but it’s much more adult. It’s not a vampire story (darn, I love the vampire stories!) but it was nonetheless captivating (I read the trilogy in less than a week).

I was originally intrigued when my husband sent me a link to an article about the first book. Evidently this has polarized men and women due to the subject matter. DO NOT READ this series if you are faint of heart as it does deal with BDSM and has explicit sex (although I wouldn’t call it erotica, it has more sex than many books I’ve read). This is NOT a book for teenagers. I don’t normally read books with BDSM, but this was very well done. Ana and Christian, while not necessarily realistic characters, are well-drawn and the trilogy is about their journey as a couple, much more than the manner in which they play.

 

Drink Deep by Chloe Neill

The latest book in the Chicagoland Vampires delivers! It begins with the transition the House and Merit go through in the aftermath of the last book. Merit is caught in the middle of vampire politics, Mal is in the middle of her wizard exams and the other main character (the city of Chicago) has some serious problems (understatement of the year there)! The ending was VERY unexpected and you will be waiting for the next installment from the moment you finish the book.

 

Maybe This Time by Jennifer Crusie

I love Jennifer Crusie! This was a fun novel, a little paranormal (ghosts!) a lot of heart. Madcap, zany characters and kids who need understanding.

 

By a Thread by Jennifer Estep

The latest Elemental Assassin takes you on a wild ride when Gin and Bria go on vacation. Needless to say, things don’t go quite as planned and Gin brushes off her assassin skills again, this time to help Bria’s childhood friend. There’s plenty of Owen page time, which makes me happy and a satisfactory conclusion. 

 

Black Howl by Christina Henry

I can’t say much without giving spoilers but if you’ve read this series at all, you definitely need to read this one. Maddie has lots of problems here from a surprising source with a truly unexpected ending.

 

Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones

This series keeps getting better and better! Charlie Davidson (grim reaper) can’t go to sleep or she summons Reyes (in my mind that’s good! He’s a great character!). She’s doing her normal private investigator stuff and she runs into problem after problem. It’s a wild ride you’ll be glad you didn’t miss.  Don’t start with this one, since it’s the third in the series, you’ll be lost. We meet some new characters which are certainly colorful and learn quite a lot about some characters we already know. Can’t wait for the next one, it promises to be an even wilder ride!

 

Shadow Heir by Richelle Mead

This was the conclusion to the Dark Swan series and it packed a wallop! I didn’t  necessarily agree with some of the decisions she made, but I think Eugenie was trying to do the best by everyone, as a ruler sometimes needs to do. The battle scene was great! The antagonist was delightfully evil and Dorian was charming. It was a good ending.

 

Secrets of the Demon by Diana Rowland

 

Sins of the Demon by Diana Rowland

O M G These books keep getting better and better! Diana Rowland is on my to-read list as soon as her books are published! People might be put-off by the premise of a demon summoning police officer, but it’s not satanic. The paranormal police procedurals are amazing and I highly recommend them!

 

Huntress (Grace Murphy novels) by Nicole Hamlett

 

Rifts (Grace Murphy novels) by Nicole Hamlett

I got the first book in the series from the amazon prime monthly book checkout (too bad I had to give it back!) and had to read the next one asap. The premise is truly brilliant; the main character begins as a romance writer who finds out she’s the daughter of a goddess and goes through an amazing metamorphosis. Curse the author for leaving a HUGE cliffhanger!

 

The Sex Club: A Detective Jackson Thriller by LJ Sellers

I debated putting this one in because I got pretty mad at the author for “preaching” liberal stuff at me. I don’t mind if the characters are liberal, but books where the characters are portrayed as extremely virtuous for making politically correct environmental and personal choices (and demonizes people who are conservative Christians) make me angry. The book was well-written though, the mystery engaging with a fascinating premise. However, be aware you might or might not like the preaching in it.

 

Spying in High Heels by Gemma Halliday

This was a fun weekend read.

 

The Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Can’t wait for the next one! Will, Jem and Tessa will engage you better than many books I’ve read lately. It’s technically YA literature, but even adults can enjoy this one. It’s the second in the Infernal Devices trilogy, so definitely read Clockwork Angel first. What’s with authors and cliffhangers lately?! Anyway, definitely worth the read.

 

Like I said at the beginning, I’ve read far more than this since I blogged last, but these are the best. Have fun reading!

Book Review: Wannabe Spy Club

Product Description

Meet Leslie, Dale, Jazz and Vivica: Four best friends use the skills they learn from their favorite spy shows and impromptu spy lessons to find love and bring down their enemies.
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Sometimes when you date someone, you have to date their friends as well.
But Leslie Mason isn’t ready to date. Her life has been in limbo since the night her parents died, and she’s spent the last five years raising her teenage sister, Amanda. All she really wants is to see her sister settled safely at college. As far as Leslie’s concerned, living like a nun is no big deal – after all, who needs a man when you have three best friends like the other members of The Wannabe Spy Club? Their mission: to learn everything they believe spies would know. If that means watching every spy show ever made, shooting guns, riding motorcycles, or even pole dancing, they’re all in. Therefore, Leslie sees no compelling reason to add a man to the mix... until she meets the oh-so-tempting, tattoo-covered, Harley-riding mechanic, Jack Bradley.
From the moment Jack Bradley laid eyes on Leslie Mason, he wanted her in every sense of the word. He wanted her tender loving heart, her hot little backside, and he sure as hell wanted to get a glimpse inside her “purse of tricks.” But Leslie is way out of his league. She’s looking for a Knight in Shining Armor, and Jack’s armor is pretty damn rusty. Believing the only way to win her is to show only his good side, Jack does what he can to keep his past a secret. All he needs to do is hold her sexual advances at bay long enough to wine her, dine her, and convince her he’s worth loving. Then and only then will he tell her the truth – that he’s an ex-alcoholic with a shady past, shadier friends, and an ex-con for a father.
Then, Leslie’s world turns upside down. Her sister’s gang-banging ex-boyfriend wants Amanda back and figures “if he can’t have her, no one can.” When kidnapping fails, the gangster does a drive-by shooting on the Mason house, then disappears. After the police confirm they can’t find Amanda’s ex, the four Wannabe Spies hatch a scheme to bring the gangster down with cell phones, duct tape and a laptop. Overhearing their crazy plans, Jack realizes there’s no way in hell he’s going to let the four naïve women handle this on their own. They may not realize what kind of person the ex-boyfriend is, but he knows from experience how dangerous a gang can be. He’s going to look out for the Wannabe Spies whether they like it or not...even if it means calling in the bad guys, tarnished armor and all. (from Amazon.com)

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Review:

I was drawn in immediately by the group of friends who loved spy stuff so much they made a club to learn about all things related to spying. I loved the energetic relationship between Leslie, Dale, Jazz and Vivica, which spoke of a long-lasting, time-tested friendship. These friends were ready and willing to drop anything at the drop of a hat to help out any of the Wannabes.

From the first scene with Jack, I was completely hooked and found myself rooting for him and Leslie. They had a great chemistry that didn’t feel forced despite the relatively short time frame of the book. The author crams a lot of action into this book but it didn’t feel crammed. The pacing was great, the dialogue realistic, as was the emotional reactions to various situations in the book. Each character carried quite a lot of baggage in the book and I felt it was dealt with in a very satisfactory manner.

Leslie’s relationship with her sister felt realistic, especially since I have teenagers of my own. You just never really know what’s going to happen and have to be ready for anything (and sometimes even have to take drastic measures to keep them safe from themselves). I digress.  But seriously, the author crafts a fantastic, laugh-out-loud, hang-on-to-the-edge-of-your-seat story. I could  not put the book down and read it in a morning.

I laughed, I cheered, I dropped my jaw and said to myself “oh no, you di’unh!” I LOVED the scene where Leslie takes a crowbar to…. (you have to read the book to find out to what! No spoilers!).

I highly recommend reading the Wannabe Spy Club. It’s a book full of friendship, romance and family (and spy stuff!). I’m looking forward to the next book, which will be Vivica’s book.

Sensuality: a few kisses and a sex scene. I’d probably let my teenage daughter read it since it’s not overly explicit.

Rating: 5 stars