We all seemed to have a recent Did Not Finish read, so we have summarized below: Mandi: Bachelor for Hire by Charlene Sands - This book was too cookie-cutter for me. There seemed to be no spontaneity or any character or event that really stood out. The heroine is an Academy Award winning actress who goes back to her home town, but nothing about her felt Hollywood-ish. She could have been any profession. The characters and the story flow just didn't work for me at all. The Continue Reading
DNF Review: Lady Bridget’s Diary by Maya Rodale
Lady Bridget's Diary by Maya Rodale (Cavendish #1) Releases: February 23, 2016 Historical Romance Avon Reviewed by Mandi Based on the title of this book, I assumed we would get some Bridget Jones's Diary references - it's a movie I adore and I had never read Maya Rodale so I decided to try it. What this book turns out to be is more of a retelling of Pride and Prejudice (PP) with Bridget Jones's Diary (BJD) and Mean Girls thrown in. (And I realize the similarities between Bridget Continue Reading
Review: The Long Fall of Night by AJ Rose
The Long Fall of Night by AJ Rose M/M Dystopian Released: June 17, 2015 Reviewed by Mandi End of the world plus male/male romance equals a premise that intrigues me. This is a straight up contemporary end of the world - a massive power outage and cell phones not working for at least half of the US. No zombies or paranormal things that are ending this world - just terrorists. Ash is in college out east and has an uncle out west who is an extreme conspiracy theorist. Even though Ash knows Continue Reading
DNF Round-Up
Sheena: Ashes (The Divided Kingdom #1) by Sophie Morgan The blurb suggested a cool, new fantasy/paranormal romance. Instead, "Ashes" was a cacophony of unorganized frenetic words being blasted at me. Hello! This is the inaugural book in the series. World build dammit! Don't act as if this is book 7 of the series - who ARE these characters?? I had the beginnings of a headache by 9% and a full grown migraine 15% into the novel. To add to the frenzy, there was a crazed Continue Reading
Review: Ruby Ink by L.J. Wilson
Ruby Ink by LJ Wilson (Clairmont #1) Released: March 31, 2015 Contemporary Romance Self Published Reviewed by Mandi When this review request came through, the blurb caught my attension Aaron Clairmont has been granted an early parole. He returns home to Nickel Springs and finds employment at Abstract Enchantment, a trendy new inn. But Aaron’s mind can’t let go of its predecessor, the vintage Rose Arch Inn, the setting for his passionate love affair with Ruby Vasquez. Ruby—the girl he Continue Reading
May has the Holiday Blues…
The naughty (and I don’t mean in the smexy way) list of holiday fails has been at an all-time high this year. I am not sure if it is a matter of everything having been done before, authors being uninspired, or other factors but this year I’ve yet to actually recommend a holiday read. Today I want to quickly go over some recent “DNF” holiday reads releasing in 2014. On the Naughty List gets a DNF because after reading two F grade novellas I couldn’t be bothered to continue. Lori Foster’s Continue Reading
New Post: Recent DNFs
We don't review every DNF we come across, but we think DNF reviews are just as important as the A ones. So here is a look at what recently didn't work for us. May: This week I read two books that had me DNF within the first chapter. I can’t tell you if either one is horrible, but I can tell you I won’t be finishing them. The Seduction of Sarah Marks by Kathleen Bittner Roth opens with a heroine in bed with a dude and she has no idea who she is – except she knows her name. He knows who Continue Reading
DNF Round Up
We don't mention every DNF (did not finish) book we read, but sometimes they pile up and we do DNF round ups. Mandi: Catch Me by Katherine Grant: My problem with this book is this - The heroine was mentally abused (at least) with a previous boyfriend. He was controlling, possessive to an extreme (at least that is what I've gained with only reading the first half of the book) In present day, heroine has met her neighbor who is already extremely controlling. In a different book, a Continue Reading
DNF REVIEW: Cold Iron by D.L. McDermott
Cold Iron (Cold Iron, #1) by D.L. McDermott Paranormal Romance February 10, 2014 Pocket Star Reviewed by Tori Cold Iron by D.L. McDermott is the beginning of a new dark paranormal romance that mixes the legends of the Fae with modern times. In the book, the fae were sent into exile by the druids and now the cage is weakening. In here, we meet one of the fae-Con of a Hundred Battles. He is awakened by Beth Carter, an archaeologist whose beauty and hidden powers call him to her. As we Continue Reading
DNF Review: My Heartache Cowboy by Z.A. Maxfield
My Heartache Cowboy by ZA Maxfield (The Cowboys #2) Released: January 21, 2014 M/M Contemporary Romance Penguin Reviewed by Mandi I DNF’d the first book in this series but I’ve liked this author in the past so I thought I’d give this one a try. This series focuses on gay ranchers and that appeals to me so much! But I’ve come to the conclusion this series is just not for me. I set this book down around the 55% mark and had no desire to pick it back up. The beginning of the book Continue Reading