Helyce’s Thursday Thoughts

You know when you read a blurb for a new book and it sounds interesting? Maybe it has an interesting premise–something different from the books you’ve previously read. It might be a new author you haven’t read before, but you’re hopeful that you’ll luck out and find another author you’ll love and can obsess over and anxiously wait for the next book??

Well that didn’t happen to me this week.  I chose two books recently that I thought were kind of out there, and I gambled and lost. Here are my thoughts…

The Ticket by Aidee Jaimes (The Affair #1)
Contemporary Romance
May 10, 2018

Disclaimer: blatant cheating in this; if that doesn’t work for you, you might want to avoid it.  

Cristiana (Cris) and her husband Owen have been together for 15 years. They appear to have a strong marriage, but Owen works a lot and often travels for his job leaving Cris home to care for their 3 year old daughter Mia. While on one of these trips, Owen has an affair. Cris finds out and of course is distraught. They attempt to work through this, but for Cris it’s always at the back of her mind–she can’t let it go. In one of their arguments, Cris suggests that maybe she needs to have an affair of her own, to even the score. Owen is beside himself that Cris would even go there, but he agrees under duress, writing “The Ticket” on a piece of paper and throwing it at Cris. Several months pass where things seem to be okay for them, but for Cris it’s ongoing and she decides to cash in her ‘ticket’ and have a one night stand of her own.

I STRUGGLED through the beginning of this story. Owen doesn’t have a lot of page time because he’s working or traveling so you don’t get a good feel for him or their relationship. His page time is mostly Cris and Owen having sex. I felt like the author was trying to convince us that Cris was happy in her marriage. But if Cris was so happy, would she be having thoughts about the son of an older couple who move into the neighborhood.  We get a good idea of what Cris is thinking about him by her inner monologue and her actions. The story, does pick up when Cris makes the decision to have her own affair and it becomes obvious who she was gonna choose. What is obvious to the reader, though, is that this is not going to be a simple affair or ‘just sex’ for either of them. There are feelings and emotions especially on the guys side. I enjoyed this interesting turn of events and was looking forward to seeing how it would be resolved. But guess what, it ends–abruptly, with a CLIFFHANGER, and that just pissed me off.

So I ask you-Should the blurb disclose this information? Cause I gotta tell you, this had a negative effect on my reading experience. I was just getting drawn in and boom…….the end. I get that this is a way to keep readers hooked so that they’ll move on to the next book–I have fallen for this many times. BUT I think it should be mentioned in some way so the reader is not blindsided.

Grade: D

Kindle l Goodreads

Love is the Punchline by Kathleen Jones
Contemporary Romance
April 7, 2018

Josh had a great career as a stand up comedian and even had a television show for a time.  Now he’s 54 and he’s lost his following, but is still trying to make it in smaller venues. He meets Holly one night when her phone rings during his performance.  He’s so enraged that he starts berating her to the point she runs out of the room and hides in the restroom. Josh finds her later and apologizes. He then starts using what happened in his act because it gets him some laughs, and Holly takes offense. Holly likes Josh, she finds him attractive and wants to pursue something.  For Josh, Holly is nothing like the women he’s normally attracted to, but Josh has super low self esteem and self confidence and he doesn’t believe Holly is really into him.

I really wanted to like this story. I haven’t come across a lot of romance reads featuring couples in their 50’s and that was probably the main factor in my choosing to read this story for review.  But I just couldn’t continue with page after page of Josh’s self doubt, self hate, and his sheer disbelief that Holly could possibly be into him. This book has a lot of 5 star reviews and maybe if I gave it more time, things would have changed, but I made it to about 20% and just could not go on anymore.

Grade: DNF

Goodreads l Kindle

Ocean Light by Nalini Singh (Psy-Changeling Trinity #2)
Paranormal Romance
June 12, 2018

Fellow reviewer Tori has already posted her fantastic review for this book, but as a long time fan of this series and author, I wanted to share my thoughts and will try to keep it brief.

Once I started, I didn’t want to put this down. Singh is a brilliant storyteller who manages to keep this series fresh and exciting 17 books in.  As we enter into this new phase, we are finally focusing on the elusive Black Sea water changelings. I am fascinated and was excited to explore the underwater world of Singh’s imagination as we meet Bowen Knight’s mate, Kaia. Their story is filled with twists and turns as Bo’s life hangs in the balance and Kaia is torn between giving in to her feelings for Bo and the word of a friend who has her trust.

While Singh never reveals where this particular Black Sea installation resides in the vast oceans of this world, I decided that it had to be somewhere with a Hawaiian or Polynesian influence based on the characters’ names and the liberal use of the word Ohana (Hawaiian for family) sprinkled throughout the story.  I grew up in Hawaii and this small connection made the story that much more special to me.

The only thing that frustrated me to no end, is the secretive nature of the water changelings other self.  While I had correctly guessed at Kaia’s changeling form based on the clues within, it is literally not revealed in word until nearly the end of the book.  I get it; their secretive second identity is a huge part of what makes the Black Sea changelings so special, but it drove me crazy-the not knowing.

Lastly, Kaleb Krychek–while always on my radar, wasn’t really swoon-worthy to me even after he got his own book.  In this book, I fell for him big time and I have completely changed my opinion of him; and he was only on page for like 1% of this book.  I don’t think I ever realized just exactly how freaking powerful he truly is.

Grade: B+

Next up:  I was a super lucky recipient of an arc of Cross Breed by Lora Leigh.  If you’re a Breeds fan, you know we have been waiting years to get Cassie’s book.  Well it’s here! It doesn’t release till late September, but you know I’m not waiting to read it.