Weekly Wrap-Up

This week at Smexy….

A review – Captive Prince Vol 1 & 2 by SU Pacat (m/m fantasy)
B+ guest review – Up in the Air series by RK Lilley (erotic contemp)
B review – City Mouse by Amy Lane and Aleksandr Voinov (m/m contemp)
B- review – Hunger Awakened by Dee Carney (erotic pnr)
C+ review – Tactical Strike by Kaylea Cross (military romance)
C+ review – Grave Secret by Sierra Dean (urban fantasy)
C review – An Eye for Danger by Christine Fairchild (romantic suspense)
D review – Star Crossed by Jennifer Echols (contemporary)

The Erotic Contemporary Cliffhanger – So 2012? Or Still All the Rage?
City Mouse Book Tour
Smexy’s Top Ten

News From Mandi: I DNF’d Despite the Ghosts by Dylan Newton. Has a cute heroine but I was very much turned off by the hero. He comes across as leering and sleazy rather than sexy. If he had been different, I think this book may have worked for me.

Penelope by Anna Wylde is a very silly, light-hearted historical romance. A little too silly for me but my biggest frustration was the romance. There was not enough focus on it.

Twice Tempted by Jeaniene Frost is a great second book in her series featuring the very cranky Vlad. This book has a really strong second half. My review is coming this week.

I had a lot of problems with Hotter Than Texas by Tina Leonard. Didn’t like the hero or the romance. My review is coming soon.

I’ve read three of the five novellas in the Strangers on a Train series – all three have been good, with Big Boy by Ruthie Knox reallllllly good. I’ll be posting reviews on all five in early April, but so far I’m really impressed. Each story involves a train and so far very good romances.

I’ll be reading Let it Be Me by Kate Noble this weekend. I’ve loved her stuff in the past and I’m excited for this on.

News From May: This week wasn’t a very book filled one. I have some mild reader impotence going on. Meaning, no books are calling to me. Anyhow. I did watch the entire season 5 of True Blood and I can honestly say I understand why Harris is (THANK GOODNESS) ending her book series. The TV show really has become a whole separate thing and entirely its own story from the books! It was awful I’m not going to lie. Slow, boring, lack of character development, things being shocking just to be shocking, yeah there are only two reasons why I’ll be watching next season and their names are Alcide and Eric. I’m a hore like that.

Moving on!

I’m still re-watching the last LBD episode. Darcy + Lizzy 4evah! It was that good.

Ok, do I have ANY book news? Yes.

I read The Earl is Mine by Kieran Kramer (review to come) and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked Gregory of the house of Brady’s story. Kramer has such an amazing voice, I feel like one day she’s going to write a favorite book for me. I just do.

I also read A Rush of Wings by Adrian Phoenix (because Tori made me) and I thought it was ok. I’m not super into how angsty and whoreish the main guy Dante is, but I see a lot of potential and I’ve proven to myself repeatedly that book 1 of a new urban fantasy series being just “meh” often leads to favorites. So I will continue to read that series for sure.

What’s up next? I really don’t know. I just caught back up on watching Arrow and I’m just waiting for a new book to grab my attention…

News from Helyce: Finding time to read of late has been difficult, but I did manage to finish a few things. First off, I read a strange if not intriguing M/M paranormal with a shifter called a cockatrice. In A Shadow of Wings by Linda Gayle, we meet Cam,whose shifted form is a cross between a rooster, serpent and dragon of some sort. This race of shifters have been living in secret for centuries. Bred by a religious faction for because of their gift of being able to "sniff" out treasure and keep the monks in gold, these cockatrice shifters live among humans, but really do not interact with them. That is until Cameron comes along. His gift is different-he seeks out those in need of help and fights off the bad guys. When Cameron meets Dylan, a human he helps once day, he is not able to just help and leave as he’s always done before. A relationship of sorts begins and Cameron’s true purpose is revealed. This one, while a bit strange, kept my attention. I had issues with the ending though. Review to post soon.

I then moved on to Nautier & Wilder a duology by Lora Leigh and Jaci Burton. I’m a long time fan of Leigh’s Nauti Boys series as well as Burton’s Wild Riders so I was happy to read this arc. Ms. Leigh’s offering was right in line with her previous books. Ms. Burton’s story was a little better. I don’t know if the author’s planned it but the male lead in both these stories is named Jed. I found this odd and after reading Leigh’s story I had a bit of trouble picturing the Jed in Burton’s story. Review to come soon.

I also read City Mouse by Aleksandr Voinov and Amy Lane. This is book two featuring our uptight financial dude Malcolm and the laid back Owen and picks up right after Country Mouse. I really enjoyed this one as we watch this couple move along in their new relationship. They have a lot of things to work out and some obstacles to overcome. It’s well done and I hope we’ll see more collaborative efforts from these authors.

I was thrilled to receive an arc of The Wanderer by Robyn Carr. I am a diehard fan of her Virgin River series and had been disappointed when I didn’t see any releases planned for early 2013 as is her norm. As far as a first book in a new series goes, this one is done well. We are introduced to many characters who I believe will take center stage at some point and eventually have their own stories. It’s done very well and I didn’t feel overwhelmed at all with any sort of information overload, however, our H/H don’t physically meet until page 170 and I found this a bit odd. It worked for this story, but then made their relationship a bit rushed. There is a secondary storyline on another couple and I actually found myself a bit more invested in them. I can see a little bit of mirroring between her Virgin River series and this new one…but it’s too early to tell and I hope that won’t be the case. Ms. Carr is a fantastic author and this story is well written and pulled me in as all her books do. I look forward to seeing what she does with this one. Review to come.

I blazed through Wild Invitation by Nalini Singh. With all the teasing she’s been doing recently about her upcoming release, I picked this one up to get my Psy/Changeling fix. It was a fantastic read as are all Nalini’s books. Although two had been released previously, I enjoyed all four stories like first time reads. Nalini is a fantastic storyteller and this world she’s created is done so well. Very good!

I did a re-read this week of Strawberries for Dessert by Marie Sexton. Sometimes a girl just has to have her Cole and Jonathan fix. It’s probably about the tenth time I’ve read this story and I can’t believe that even after reading it that many times I can still get so worked up about it. I cried, just like I always do at all the sad places. Loved it.

I’m currently reading Rule by Jay Crownover. I bought this a while back and it’s been sitting on my Kindle. I love the rich girl and the bad boy from the wrong side of the tracks trope. I’m super invested and this story has pulled me in. I hope the ending isn’t a let down. Several GR reviews point out the horrible editing and grammatical errors, but I’m no English major and I just fill the word in, in my head if it’s missing. I make no excuses for poor editing and yes this book should have been edited better-but I love this story and I will definitely read the books that follow it.

Up next, I’m not sure. I have many reviews to write this weekend and then I’ll have to pick up some review books. I’m looking forward to the arc Bare it All by Lori Foster which just arrived this week. After that, we’ll see!