Far From Home (Lorelei Brown)
When Joyfully Jay blog announced that the last week on the reading month challenge would be Genre Week (pick a book in a genre/trope that you don’t usually read), I knew exactly what I wanted.
I have never read F/F romance before but I've been wanted to -- to open my eyes and get out of my comfort reading zone. So I decided to throw caution to the wind and bought this one -- simply because I have loved the blurb ever since I first saw it on Riptide newsletter, but never took a step to do something about it until now.
I really thought this was lovely. I loved the friendship between Rachel and Pari that turned into something more. There were moments that really touched me... I don't know whether this is similar to all F/F books, but I never felt both women to be assertive, which I appreciated. The sweet tenderness felt different compared to when I read M/F or M/M romance for sure.
To me Rachel, the main narrator, was beautiful in her imperfection. She was still battling eating disorder (she's anorexic) and I wanted to thank the author for having such character in my romance. This had quite few other diversity elements check out, in my opinion: Pari being an Indian (which means interracial relationship) and Rachel being a demi-sexual.
Now, for the things that I wasn't sure about ...
I still wasn't that comfortable reading sex scenes between two women. See, words like pussy or cunt made me squirm. I felt the same when reading those words in M/F romance (which was one of the reason why I avoid erotica genre), but two women means quite many of those words appearing for my taste. I tried to read it through here, but I will probably end up skimming sex scenes in future read, just like I do most of the times (laugh).
I also thought few things were not described clearly, for example Rachel and Pari's friendship before Rachel even offered to marry Pari. How did they become friends and how close their friendship were before? Pari knew about Rachel's anorexic problem, though, so at least they were not just mere acquaintances? Anyway, it bothered me a bit that I didn't get all these information.
Having said that, after I mulled it over for the past two days (including the part with me being uncomfortable with the sex scenes), in overall, I still could say that I loved this. Thus my 4-stars rating category. I am happy this is my first F/F romance :)
Part of my involvement in Joyfully Jay Reading Challenge Month 2016 Week 4: Genre Challenge
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All Of Me (Jennifer Bernard)
2.5 stars
Meh. Too many over-the-top drama for my taste: sex scandal, con-artist father, slanders... It just went on and on. The things that Sadie's ex did was so juvenile it robbed out any chance of me enjoying the romance.
I also thought Sadie being a little too 'weak' when it came to dealing with her ex. If she wanted to be a lawyer and didn't have the nerves of steel or the wits when facing his ex, she would've been eaten in courts. Then again, probably because these characters were young? I think they were only in their 20's ... and I prefer my characters to be slightly older (or at least one of them is).
Bottom line, uninspiring romance, and I think I will bail out from reading the next books in this series.
Trick Play (Alison Hendricks)
Sometimes a book fits what I want to read / present mood. To be perfectly honest, in any other day, this might fall in my 3.5* rating category. But I read this one after not being too satisfied with my last book. So by comparison, this wins my heart because I enjoyed it a whole lot.
At first I was a bit ambivalent with the idea of fake-relationship for the sake of giving the team the Rainbow identity. I LOVE friends-to-lovers trope but I tend to strongly dislike fake-relationship for marketing/promo purpose. So I wasn't sure whether I was going to completely like this book.
Well ... I ended up loving Luke and Brandon so much. This is one of the examples where the friends-to-lovers theme was executed pretty well. Sure, there was angst (since Brandon has been pretty much in love with Luke for years) but it was the right amount. I even enjoyed their first sexy time and devoured the scene without skimming!!
My biggest problem was probably Luke's father. I mean I was happy that he didn't end up kicking out his son when Luke admit that he was bisexual and involved with Brandon. But his change of heart didn't ring true based on his attitude prior to the heart-to-heart talk. I wasn't completely convinced with that scene to be honest.
But the epilogue was sweet and brought a HUGE smile to my face. Yep, this one was a winner.
Twice Shy (Kate Sherwood)
Ever since I read what happened to Micah in Lap Dog, I have been wanting to read his story. I even asked Kate via Tweet to know when the book was being released! Yeah, I was kind of impatient! Was it what I wanted?
Well, one thing for sure, Twice Shy wasn't always an easy book to read.
With Micah being an ex-addict who was on his way to be better, and Jake the older brother of another addict, at times I was really worried about how these two were going to make it. Reading about addicts is never easy -- and it shouldn't be easy, I think. I have long-distant cousins who died because of drugs, even if they went to rehab. So I know that it's a constant struggle for them.
So this book made me laugh, cried, angry, agitated, proud, all within 200+ pages. I laughed because I loved Micah's attitude -- and he could be funny. I cried because there was this one huge heartbreaking event, that pretty much change the course of the series (and I am sure will be a major plot for the final book). I was angry because I thought Jake was being unfair to Micah, and he didn't grovel enough, IMHO. I was agitated because, well, the addiction element. I was proud because Micah and Jake made it to the end.
Guess what, Kate Sherwood just did it again for me!! Now I can't wait for Trey's story. I would probably poke Kate again in the very near future asking for release date *lol*
David, Renewed (Diana Copland)
I loved Diana Copland’s previous books – after being on hiatus for the last couple of years, I was happy when I saw that she had a new book coming. For the most part, I really liked it. However, there were also too many things that diminished my good mood and disrupted my enjoying this book in its entirety.
Let’s see with what I liked best…
The romance between David and Jackson worked well for me. Despite the instant sexual attraction coming from David – he couldn’t help ogling Jackson’s gorgeous body (and ass) when he first saw the handyman – but the actual relationship itself moved at a rather slow-just-right pace. David was still handling the trouble that his cheating-ex was giving him regarding their property and Jackson also juggling with responsibility of taking care of his sick mother.
So there were no instant burning sheets here. It took time for David and Jackson to even have their first kiss, despite the sexual tension the two were throwing in each other’s paths. There were dates and learning about each other’s lives that made me pretty happy that both men didn’t just jump into sexual intercourse right away.
We also had a very good potential of a series because as David and Jackson grew closer, both men also seemed to gather their friends into their inner circle. So we had a group of single gay men with potential love stories to tell. Yes, I couldn’t help but think there MUST BE follow-up to this because I wanted them to get their happy endings as well. It will be too cruel if not. *pout*
Unfortunately, like I said before, there were other things that I disliked. First, the blatant stereotyping that “Republicans are bad and homophobic”. I was quite annoyed with it. I mean, really? Can’t we rise above that kind of behavior? I don’t think that all Republicans are bad. Just like I don’t think all non-Muslims are evil (I'm a Muslim, by the way).
A lot of times I hear about the need for diversity in romance – so why not have it also include different political views? I am sure there are a lot of good, polite, not-homophobic Republicans out there. This felt like a personal political view from the author and I didn’t like it.
Then, what was with all of the other people outside of our gay men group – save for David and Jackson’s mothers, David’s sister, and Jackson’s sister in law – that are portrayed very negatively? The siblings were assholes, who seemed to only want reputation or money. Then we had a seriously bad case of ex-es: David’s and Manny’s (one of Jackson’s friend). It was too much drama for my personal taste.
I prefer my romance to be quite balanced when introducing bad seeds of the world. I didn’t like how Copland wrote those ‘villains’ here, and it smeared the good feel I had about the main romantic relationship. It was still a good read but not my favorite of hers.
Trigger warning: Mention of domestic violence for secondary character
A Guest Review for The Blogger Girls
The ARC is provided by the publisher for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.
Dead and Lost (Lou Harper)
L.A. Paranormal is probably my favorite series from Lou Harper, which might be influenced by the mystery fan in me. I enjoyed the adventure of Jon and Leander, and the whole psychic side of Leander just added the fun.
This novella is a nice surprise -- the previous L.A. Paranormal book, Dead in the Desert was released in 2013 -- especially since I haven't heard Lou Harper planning to continue. The mystery in this one is loosely related to Dead in the Desert although you can still read this as stand-alone. In Dead in the Desert, a child's remainds was discovered and the detective was asking Leander to help identify the body. Back then, Leander refused. However, in this one, it turned out that Leander finally decided to help Detective Cora.
For the first time (after two books), the story was solely written from Leander's POV ... and I LOVED IT. Leander is adorable!! How can I not love a guy who openly admitted that he loves books so much, he tends to hoard them *lol*. Leander has this sunshine/happy attitude that just helps reduce the horrific situation that he is facing -- come on, death of a kid is never easy! I also loved how Leander dealing with his significant other, Jon the Grumpy Bear. Those moments were just too cute!!
The mystery is good as well. Leander seems to be more 'involved' in sleuthing this time, which I appreciated. Of course it made Jon (and Detective Cora) crazy but it also provided some goodness when Jon being protective of his Leander.
Yep, satisfying read.
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Gryffon Hall (Alexis Duran)
3.25 stars
Wryler is traded off to marry one of the most notorious rogues, Lord Aeric Rouchet, and he must leave to the faraway castle. It has a Beauty and the Beast vibe to it for sure, especially because Aeric kept a secret which related to the monsters that keep Aeric away from Wryler to protect the land.
I like a good arranged-marriage trope ... especially between two characters with different traits. This one fits the theme nicely. I thought it was a nice fairy-tale read from a new-to-me author. However, I thought Aeric was "missing" from scenes more that I liked -- it definitely didn't do good for the relationship development between Wryler and Aeric. I also thought the ending was rushed; it didn't fit with the flow of the book.
I did got a LOT of entertainment from the secondary characters, though, most notably the OCD librarian and the useless servant. They provided lots of chuckling moments for me.
Overexposed (Megan Erickson)
And I hope that gave her peace in the end. Because I was still angry as hell
Overexposed is the fourth (and maybe final?) entry of Megan Erickson’s In Focus series. And this book gripped me right from the very beginning, with that line that ends the prologue. To be honest, when I requested this ARC, I didn’t fully read the blurb. I wanted to read without having any ideas what the books was about. When I read that prologue, and then Levi going to hike the Appalachian Trail in his sister’s memory, well, it punched me right in the feels.
Despite the somber tone, this book was not all about angst. In fact, I thought it was a lovely story of dealing with loss. I especially loved the part of the hiking. I could see it in my mind’s eye. Being in solitude, connecting with nature, while handling the grief. It appealed to my introvert self VERY much. It was a wonderful description and I thought that was the strength of this story.
I also loved Levi – I already adored him in the previous book, but here, Levi catapulted into one of my favorite characters of the whole series. His personality shined through – despite the loss of his sister, or the confusion that he experienced with Thad. Just like Thad, I was entranced with Levi’s beautiful soul. Considering that this story is told from his perspective, Levi carried it well to the finish line.
I do have minor complaints – because apparently, I am built that way *devil laugh*.
First, I thought Thad’s demi-sexuality wasn’t explored deeply enough. It felt like it was mentioned only in passing. Is the fact that it was just the two of them on a hiking trail enough to build a strong / intense emotion to make Thad attracted to Levi sexually? Is it ALL kinds of road trips, where two people share the same space, intense enough for a demi-sexual to get sexually attracted to someone? While I know this is a romantic fiction, and not exactly a learning pamphlet about demi-sexuality, I think it is a missed opportunity.
Because of that, I also thought the sex scenes kind of disrupted the whole flow of Levi and Thad bonding emotionally. In addition, Thad felt like he underwent a minor character surgery – from being a brooding guy with minimal conversation to waxing romantic things to Levi. I know that other readers might not think so, and I’m aware that I can be the minority. But that’s how I feel about it. To each their own, right?
Also after such a lovely build-up between the two of them in the beginning, I felt like everything near the end was a sprint towards the finish line. That epilogue was nice, probably because Ms. Erickson tried to give updates about all of the couples involved in this series. However, it wasn’t really necessary. I would have loved to get more pages of Levi and Thad in the end rather than having the epilogue.
Despite everything, this is another winning story from Megan Erickson. In fact, I think all four books in the series are wonderfully written. I don’t know if there will be future books about characters that have appeared here (*winkMattywink*) but if this is the end of the series, I feel quite satisfied.
A Guest Review for The Blogger Girls
The ARC is provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.
Custom Fit (Josephine Myles)
While these boys might have to learn about the power of communication, and despite the opposite way of looking at life -- Andrew is more uptight and so cautious about money while Felix is more willing to take chances -- but I thought they really truly fit with each other. When they do talk things out, they are adorable.
I liked that the problem written here was very, uhm, realistic, in terms of struggling with money and getting a job to make ends meet after one finishes college. About trying to reach your dream, do what you are most passionate about, but at the same time finding that you must sacrifice parts of it to get money.
So yeah, I really liked this, slightly better than the first story even (based on my rating, since I don't exactly re-read Tailor Made before starting this one, so I can't really remember the details)
Accidental Fall (Shae Connor)
First of all, I never read the first edition so I wouldn’t know if anything changed. I guess there isn’t because it rarely happens.
Greg and Keith were in a different ‘place’ in their lives … Greg was trying to clean-up his act at his new school after being involved with a lot of drinking, smoking, partying, and sex previously. While Keith was enjoying casual sex with others, even if he tried to separate his body and his heart. At first Keith wanted to be friends-with-benefits with Greg, but as he was wooing his roommate, he realized that his heart might be involved after all.
Awww, I thought this was sweet. For a novella, this was pretty slow-burn. Despite them being college boys and roommates, Greg and Keith didn’t get their freak on until late in the story. Mainly it was all because of Greg’s determination to avoid sex at all costs for fear that he would easily go back to his old ways. So I enjoyed reading about them getting to know each other better, including Keith’s attempts for romancing Greg.
It was an easy, light-on-angst story – which was definitely good for something in between more serious/heavy novels. Greg and Keith were both likable young men. The ending might be HFN but I was okay with that since this was basically a beginning of a new relationship for the two of them
A Guest Review for The Blogger Girls
The ARC is provided by the publisher for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.
Take Two (Shira Anthony)
2.75 stars rounded up
I don't have issue with Wesley moving in with another guy when he is still technically married with Sam -- Wesley and Sam have been separated for quite a while and apparently Wesley hasn't consummated this new relationship yet. Although the part with Carl sleeping with his boss is totally cliche, and I can see THAT plot million miles away.
My issue is more on the storytelling, it felt lacking any needed emotion!! Oh, I know, I read on how Wesley was conflicted, that he still had feelings for Sam, and Sam was still in love with him even if he kept repeating his mistakes, but I never felt it.
There wasn't any that punch-in-the-gut-having-my-heart-squeezed-tight sensation ... which was usually the emotion I want to have when reading about estranged lovers who realize they still love one another. In addition, with the whole storm scenes, it made it look like it took forces of nature to make these men working things out *shrugs*.
In my humble opinion, for a reunion trope, this one is pretty dry.
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Power Bottom (Rowan McAllister)
I quite like Rowan McAllister’s books – but this one was not my favorite of hers. The initial set-up was good. Adrian’s break-up was harsh. The words that Martin said to Adrian made my jaw drop. Boy … that was brutal! In a sense, we share same traits, Adrian and I. I am introvert as well. I prefer the comfort of my room and read rather than going out. I can totally spend 24 hours inside my house on weekends, doing nothing but reading, watching TV, or browsing the Internet. So I feel him!!
I wanted to see Adrian happy – I was intrigued by what this biker/tattooed guy could offer and how he could make Adrian happy. Unfortunately, what happened next was not what I could enjoy. I am never a fan of ‘educate the other person about the joy of sex’ trope. With Adrian and Wyatt making an arrangement of one-offs on weekends, they seemed to be focusing on sex, on making Adrian felt better with sexual intercourse, teaching him what he could get… rather than getting to know one another.
Well, it was BORING for me. Probably it has to do with my asexuality, but I am rarely charmed with sex alone when I don’t feel like I get enough story, romance or characterization. I got to the point where I skimmed those scenes because I truly didn’t care about it.
Also, because there was lack of Wyatt’s POV in this book, I was rather baffled with what Wyatt saw in Adrian. Sure, sure, he explained that Adrian was sexy, so he was drawn to him. But I guess I wanted more than that, especially since Adrien didn’t seem the type of guy that people easily got attached to because of his personality.
In addition to that, the whole running-away situation that Wyatt had been going through for the past 15 years didn’t seem to fully materialize on page. Fifteen years is quite a long time, so I kept thinking whether it was truly that dangerous or was it just exaggeration on Wyatt’s part; a reason for him to never fully commit to anything.
There was another ‘mystery’ that happened with Adrian’s work-place. That seemed to be more solid than Wyatt’s. I kind of liked that part, even if I was also asking myself whether Adrian and his friend, Bev, were that naïve about everything. I would be very SUSPICIOUS if my boss started asking me what their boss was doing to them.
So some parts were enjoyable, some parts were not. I have definitely read better from McAllister, that’s for sure.
A Guest Review for The Blogger Girls
The ARC is provided by the publisher for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.
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Old Dog, Old Trick (A. Sangrey Black)
3.5 stars
I love REUNION trope. LOVE it so frickin' much. So when I saw the blurb -- this being a story about two men who reunited after two decades (silver foxes alert!!), I just jumped right in and bought it. Even if A. Sangrey Black is a new-to-me author. I just couldn't help myself.
Well, it turned out to be a good purchase :). I really liked this. I thought the emotion between Lam and Dale was believable ... the connection and chemistry very strong, which made it easy for me to accept that the two immediately jumped the sheet after meeting again.
The internal thoughts and feeling was written from both men's perspective, so there wasn't a time where I didn't trust that they both thought about each other often, that the separation when they were still young to be something they kind of regret.
I believe that they will be in each other's lives again soon. This time they will make the most of it and get their happily every after :)
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Softpaw (Berryl and Osiris Brackhaus)
3.5 stars
** SPOILER REVIEW **
First of all, there were moments were I was so appalled with the incompetence that Michel showed as a cop. I mean ... he fell asleep, not once, not twice, but seemed like EVERYTIME he was spending the night with Connor, when he was supposed to keep eyes on 'the suspect'. In addition, where he found the bloody shirt at Connor's place, instead of bringing it to his colleagues for checking, he ended up using the shirt for jerking off, leaving his jizz and DNA ALL OVER THE PLACE!! Seriously? I was ready to dismiss Michel outright. What a stupid thing to do as a cop. Clearly Michel let his head ruled rather than his brain.
Although, I admit, I wasn't that impressed with Connor either. Considering that he was a shifter, in which he was supposed to have better senses than humans he totally didn't react with Michel 'marking' his place with him jerking off. Didn't he smell it?? He smelled Michel's when he smoked but not this one? I thought it was so weird that Connor didn't even suspect anything.
In addition, did I miss something or we never really found out the real identity of Jacqueline? I felt like the revelation of the villain wasn't worth the "hype". In any case, let's just say that the investigation part didn't satisfy me as much.
However ... I though the relationship progress to be really good. It was well-paced, the chemistry was there, as well as the emotional conflict between Connor and Michel, with one being the suspect and the other an undercover cop. I loved that part.
The Paris setting was also wonderful. It felt like another character in this book and it elevated the mood to the whole story. Plus there was one moment that felt like a punch to my gut, when the victims ended up being characters that were introduced to readers quite wonderfully before they died.
So despite the complaint above, I can count this as "really liked" :)
Part of my involvement in Joyfully Jay Reading Challenge Month 2016 Week 2: Around the World Challenge
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Empty Net (Avon Gale)
4.25 stars
Another book that I loved so much -- but I didn't exactly have the words to explain on the why's. So you all just have to settle with other people's opinion instead.
The most important things that you need to know -- I loved Isaac Drake so much. I wanted to hug Laurent "Saint" Savoy almost throughout the book.
I loved the progress of their romance and relationship because there was a process from enemies to lovers that was BELIEVABLE for me.
I thought how Isaac dealt with Saint, the part where he told Saint what to do felt right.
I loved that Saint took steps to work on his issue, even if it was because he wanted to make Isaac happy -- because yes, sometimes you need other people's (a.k.a. professional) help with your issue.
I loved the team -- most especially Misha and Max (go Coach!).
I thought Avon Gale wrote demi-sexual character pretty well,
ALTHOUGH ... I also wish that this character with demi-sexuality is not having some sort of abuse/trauma like Saint did. I want a demi or an ace that have "normal / happy" background!. One of the reasons why I couldn't give higher rating just yet.
This whole series is a WINNER!!
Poison Tongue (Nash Summers)
Sometimes, I just don't want to write long review simply because I don't really have words to explain my opinion.
Let me just say that this romance from Nash Summers is on one hand a traditional love against evil theme -- in terms that Levi is able to break the dark curse that has captured Monroe's soul -- and on the other hand, it also brought a nuance of dark, Gothic, and eerie tale about love.
So despite the feel of repetitiveness that quite similar to my minor issue with Lovers & Fighters (in this case, Summers seems to repetitively remind readers about the swamp, the darkness, the curse, the snake that curling Monroe's body and soul, to the point where I thought "enough already!"), once again, Nash Summer's evocative and atmospheric prose charmed me over.
Gorgeous. Just gorgeous.
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