"It knew things, that smile."
I forgot how much happens, gets laid out in the first five chapters, still loving the story set-up years later.
More comments and quotes: Beauty and the Spy buddy read
Tuesday, July 6, 2021
Monday, July 5, 2021
Reading Update: Page 1
Over on GoodReads I started a buddy read of the series in the Romance Book Buddy Reading group, come join in the talk!
I loved the first book in the Holt Sisters Trilogy, so I can’t wait to revisit this series again ❤️
Sunday, July 4, 2021
Quickie Review: Blaze
Blaze by Susan JohnsonMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
2.4 stars
This read probably/exactly how you would expect a bodice ripper of 1986 to. The hero is banging everyone (but not the heroine's mom this time!) in beginning, he alpha af but also pretty dang sensitive/loving to heroine's needs, the heroine is a virgin but this time she takes her agency in both hands and shoves it at the hero until he bangs her, there is adventure, but the Absarokee tribe (hero) was actually shown in a culturally sensitive light and seems to be fairly well researched, thee drama with relationship Betrayal (misunderstandings forced), and the start of an epic family dynasty.
You can start to see the cringe elements from '70s & '80s bodice rippers falling away and the '90s heroine emerging.
Adventure in the west (modern day Montana), epic leads, villains being villainous, annoyingly forced that made the story feel dragged out Misunderstanding, and, wait for it, FOOTNOTES. I love footnotes, especially historical ones, in historical romance because I'm a geek.
Bodice ripper lite, an interesting story in regards to it's transitional feel.
View all my reviews
View all my reviews
Friday, July 2, 2021
Review: Falling in Love on Willow Creek
Falling in Love on Willow Creek by Debbie MasonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
2.5 stars
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
She'd been bailing her baby brother out of trouble for years.
Third in the series, I had no problem jumping in with this small town romance even though I haven't read the others. We start off with a very pregnant Sadie Gray working in her grandmother's I Believe in Unicorns store and trying to suss out if her brother on the run from the law is squeezing her grandmother for money. Her brother got mixed up transporting drugs with the local gang and now is wanted by them and the police. She's got that to deal with while she's pregnant and deciding that it is finally time to kick her baby's father to the curb.
The pov then jumps to FBI agent Chase Roberts, who happens to be watching the store and catches Sadie in an embarrassing moment but receives a phone call before they can meet. Their meet-cute then ends up with Sadie getting into a minor car accident and Chase, with his new undercover partner Nate Black, delivering Sadie's baby because she goes into labor on the side of the road.
And for the first time in his career, he thought he might be in over his head.
This started with a lot of different elements thrown at the reader, I had a hard time keeping up with everything. The undercover case Chase is working with Nate Black, who he isn't sure he can fully trust, as they try to find Sadie's brother and see if he really was a criminal informant for Nate's buddy that was killed and if the local sheriff's department is dirty and working to ship drugs with the gang is the main plot but there were so many intangibles added that it started to feel kitchen sink and not cobbled together quite right. Around the 20% mark, I started to feel like I was settling into the story more. Sadie's grandmother's second sight, Sadie's friend Abby and her YouTube channel ideas, and Sadie's baby preferring Chase all the time, were seemingly small additives but they were all thrown in, in such a way, that it disrupted the flow and took away from the romance.
“Thank you.” he said, then held her gaze. “I meant what I said, Sadie. I care about Michaela, and I care about you.”
The romance was fairly mild, with the baby almost always between them, Sadie and Chase felt like an already married couple and with more of a dulled spark. This was also a kisses only, the sex scene is completely off screen. Both characters were raised by their grandparents and I thought that was sweet commonality but because Sadie and Chase had to share the focus in so many directions, I felt we never got to see them sit and deepen together. I had that problem with a lot of the characters, they went beyond cardboard individually but their relationships with each other were lacking and I missed more emotion. About 40% Sadie learns that Chase is undercover and a little bit of fake relationship trope happens as he pretends to be her boyfriend so he can stay with her at her house. I thought we would get more spark but these two just settled into the comfortable couple even more, with Sadie getting naps in and Chase doing the laundry.
If you've read the other books in the series, you'll enjoy the appearances of past and future couples as they have some important roles in this. I felt the execution wasn't quite right on this as the beginning had me feeling scattered and pulled in a lot of different ways, Chase and Nate never felt like they were searching intensely enough for Sadie's brother, and Sadie's baby got in the middle a lot. The story ends fairly abruptly but with the bonus story edition, you get a novella of Sadie and Chase's wedding, which helps give an epilogue feel. This would be a comfortable read for some, though, if you like a little detective work and wanting to visit the small town of Highland Falls again.
Wednesday, June 30, 2021
Reading Update: 10%
There’s even a park ranger hero, well, undercover but I’ll take what I can get!
Happy mid-week ❤️
I tripled red curry paste, this also uses the best rice, imho, jasmine
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
Review: His Improper Lady
His Improper Lady by Candace CampMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
2.7 stars
The thief was a woman.
Tom Quick awakens to an intruder in his detective offices one night and during a tussle, learns the thief is a woman. When he discovers a necklace that got left behind, a gambling token from a casino on a chain, he has a clue to find her.
Desiree Malone has always had “funny” feelings and they're telling her to search out who her real father was. When the man who caught her searching his office finds her, he doesn't believe that a clue she found there proves her father was a Moreland, the family that saved him from the rookery.
Desiree and Tom work together to find out the truth about Desiree's father but as their trust is building, so is the attraction between them.
And like him, she didn't belong in either place.
His Improper Lady is the eight installment of the Mad Morelands series but I haven't read the others and I had no problems understanding the world. The Moreland family and members make a strong showing, they try to steal the show sometimes in the middle and latter half, but, for the most part, the spotlight is brightly on Desiree and Tom together. Desiree, her twin brother Wells, and their older brother Brock know their mother was a mistress to a rich man. When the twins were babies and Brock around seven, their mother and the man ran away together and were never seen again. Brock was transported to Australia while the twins were taken in by a friend of their mothers who was a circus performer and eventually ended up with a kidsman named Falk until Brock managed to make his way back and save them. The Magnificent Malones were popular acrobatic and tumbling acts and very efficient thieves for Falk. The story definitely involves this aspect of Desiree's life with having her teaching Tom some tumbling moves in a special room they have equipped to train in and incorporating it in chase scenes. I thought it was a fun, different element to add in, especially since it wasn't once mentioned, then done but actually utilized.
“I plan to do a great deal more than look.” He planted his hands on the bed on either side of her, crawling slowly up her body.
Desiree searching out if her father really was a Moreland (she found a Moreland ring in Tom's partner's desk that matches the one her brother Brock said their father gave him when he was a child) and Tom wanting to protect the Morelands from grifters, because of how they took him in as a child, had these two together from the beginning. The vast majority of the time is taken up by Desiree and Tom together going from person to person from her mother's past and Alistair, the Moreland cousin they learn and think could be Desiree's father, looking for clues. The investigation plot pace was very well-regulated, sometimes painstakingly as I thought around the 70% mark things needed to be wrapped up. This is not a story that has a quick pace and you're going to rush through, it's more sink in and spend a couple days with. Overall, I wouldn't call it slow, but towards the end I did start to get a bit antsy as a sex scene was put in and delayed some action after they learned an important clue. These two had a pretty even keeled vibe to them, Tom doesn't trust her in the beginning but as he gets to know her, he mellows (takes him a wee bit too long) and trusts her. Desiree was the open warm book we all probably wish we could be and I did find myself loving the honesty between them, no hidden truths, angst, or thee drama for this couple.
And he knew, with his body as much as his mind, that he could not live without this woman.
The pace and tone of this made me think of instead of taking a plane from Minneapolis to New Orleans, you took a raft down the Mississippi river, slower but probably more idyllic. The mystery and danger aspect never felt too urgent and you'll probably be able to glean some of the whys and hows of Desiree's parents. Tom gets a little bit of the shaft, story wise, because it's all about Desiree but I thought he complimented Desiree sweetly on her journey. If you're a frequent reader of this series, you'll enjoy past couple appearances and looks at this mad Moreland family. There was a very slight paranormal aspect to this with Desiree's inner eye “telling” her about liars and dangers, which seems to be a theme for the Morelands as there were mentions of other family members having some abilities (even mention of a witch who invaded dreams!). Desiree's twin brother Wells, who seems to be a spy for the government, and her older brother Brock, who owns casinos, each have enough charisma to make me want to read their books. You probably won't race through this one but it does have sinkable quality and sweet romance that believably builds.
Friday, June 25, 2021
Reading Update: Page 1
I can’t wait to find out about this improper lady!
I cooked the chicken with some BBQ seasoning. Great fresh summer salad!
Thursday, June 24, 2021
Quickie Review: The Bride Hunt
The Bride Hunt by Margo MaguireMy rating: 1 of 5 stars
1.5 stars
Me being trash for a cover bites me in the butt once again. Sigh. But look at it, so glorious. But also, let me lodge a formal complaint, our main man Anvrai doesn't actually wear an eye patch until the second half of the story. Not quite a bait and switch but still, you know what the people were coming for with a cover like that.
Anyway, Anvrai is just wilding out with his scarred face in the beginning, which Isabel, the woman we are supposed to be cheering for, has this to say about that:
Isabel was too exhausted and cold to feel repulsed by the touch of this scarred and barbaric man. She concentrated her attention on the top of his head, away from the ugly scars that marred his visage.
But, once ole' Anvrai drops trou, Isabel starts singing a different tune:
Isabel’s face flushed with heat, and she swallowed thickly when he unfastened his belt and dropped his braies to the ground. She felt no fear or revulsion at the sight of his powerful body, the way she had when the Scottish chieftain had stood naked before her. What she felt was something more like wonder—at their differences, at Anvrai’s raw male potency.
RAW MALE POTENCY strikes again, folks.
This is kind of a road romance with the most annoying fifth wheel named Roger. Beautiful Isabel is about to choose her husband but Scots attack and she gets kidnapped along with Roger. Anvrai rescues her and Roger (why tho'?) and they are on the run. Isabel is tentative about liking the scarred RAW MALE POTENCY that is Anvrai because she grew up in a convent and Anvrai is way up in his feelings about not feeling good enough for her. Roger fifth wheels harder than any character I've ever read. They manage to pick up a woman and her baby to seventh wheel this and the whole second half is some descriptive sex scenes (more awkward because I didn't feel any emotional depth to characters' relationship), running from danger, waaaaa “I'm not good enough”, and some surprising real historical figures that gave us a setting for the times (I added the .5 to the rating because of this).
Pretty simple, no depth or chemistry with characters or story.
Review: Payback's a Witch
Payback's a Witch by Lana HarperMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
3.5 stars
Every fifty years the four founding families of Thistle Grove must hold the Gauntlet, a tourney to determine the founding family that will preside over all things magical in the town. For three hundred years the Blackmoores have only lost once but there is a mutiny brewing. Emmy Harlow left town nine years ago with a broken heart but as the Harlow scion (heir) she must be the Arbiter for the Gauntlet.
Gareth Blackmoore---my first love, my most humiliating and heart-crushing breakup, and the reason I abandoned an entire life---genuinely did not remember me.
The delightfully titled Payback's a Witch is a magical realism story that introduces readers to a world they are going to fall in love with. At times overly descriptive with some pacing problems, it nevertheless pulled me into this world and I didn't want to leave. As the first in the series, a lot of the first half is setting up the Thistle Grove world as told through our narrator, Emmy Harlow. The four founding families are the Harlows, Thorns, Avramovs, and Blackmoores. The Harlows are the least powerful with the Blackmoores having the most power and are slowly but surely building a tourist empire that is choking the life out of the other families businesses. In highschool Emmy had a romance with Gareth Blackmoore but he broke it off alluding that Emmy wasn't good enough, which had her leaving town and creating a life in Chicago where she feels she has more agency and power as more than just the bottom of the rung Harlow. However, once the witches leave Thistle Grove, their power immediately starts to lessen until it disappears.
She tipped her sleek head toward me, lazy grin glinting like a blade's edge. “Enter the final member of our vengeance coven.”
Saturday, June 19, 2021
Reading Update: 10%
🥵🥪🧙♀️
I’m about four chapters in and, y’all, this is good.
Stay cool, well read, and fed this weekend, my friends!
Avocado Egg Salad recipe
I sprinkle some paprika on top
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