Here it is, my last post regarding the reading year that was 2006. Here are my disappointments and the dregs. The books that I had high hopes for that let me down, and the books so awful I'm still in recovery. Click on the title to get the original blog post or TRR review. In some cases the books were so bad, I couldn't write about them twice.
The Disappointments:
In The Groove by Pamela Britton (contemporary, NASCAR, 2006) - What the hell happened here? Seriously. I've read Britton before and rather liked those books, but this one? When I wasn't teetering on the brink of a sugar-induced coma I was hoping that one of the NASCAR drivers would run over the heroine. Pollyanna doesn't even begin to cover it.
Lover Eternal by J.R. Ward (paranormal, 2006) - Sorry I just don't get all the squeeing. I know I'm in the minority on this, but I'm OK with being "wrong."
The Mephisto Club by Tess Gerritsen (suspense, 2006) - Again, I'm in the minority here. As a long time fan of this series, I am still cheesed off with the direction Gerritsen is taking with the Dr. Maura Isles character. Frankly she seemed a helluva lot smarter in the earlier books. Loved the stuff with Jane and her family though. And as a side note: my older sister liked this one more than I did, and a reader I know loved it and it was her first book by Gerritsen. So there you go, Wendy being a piss pot again.
Hot Night by Shannon McKenna (erotic romance, suspense, 2006) - McKenna normally works for me as a guilty pleasure. She writes really good Alpha heroes, although her heroines have about as much personality as a wet mop. This one was readable, but it got on my last good nerve thanks to a heroine who needed to be shot. Also, while I think McKenna is capable of writing very good sex scenes, the purple prose in this one is very bad. Girl juice?! That ain't sexy, it's just icky. Very, very icky.
Hard Evidence by Pamela Clare (romantic suspense, 2006) - I really wanted to like this one. Clare can write, the plot is interesting, and the hero is suitably yummy. But the heroine! Oh that idiot heroine! Also, the identity of the villain cheesed me off to the point that I was riding on my feminist high horse for weeks afterward.
The Dregs AKA The "F" Reads:
The Sheriff by Nan Ryan (western, 2006) - When Harlequin can't be bothered to get the character's name right on the back cover copy that should tell you something.
Defiant by Bobbi Smith (western, 2006) - More in depth TRR review here. Poorly written, stock characters, and an annoying heroine. The trifecta!
The Blonde Geisha by Jina Bacarr (erotic romance, historical, 2006) - The new reigning Champion of the Worst Purple Prose I Have Ever Read. Seriously. For those readers who have no clue what exactly purple prose is - read my review. I would never suggest reading this book.
And there we have it - Wendy's Year In Reading 2006. What a fun trip down memory lane this has been. Now on to 2007!
2 comments:
My roommate was going to buy "The Blonde Geisha" until I told her to read your review of it. She stayed far away from it after that!
I'm with you in the minority on the JR Ward thing and mine extends to the whole freaking series. I couldn't even get through the first book. I read maybe 75-100 pages, got so annoyed and irritated by everything and everyone in the book that it went back on the shelf and I haven't picked it back up.
LOL - the only book I've read on your Disappointments and Dregs is the one we disagree on *g*. I do have Hot Nights and Lover Eternal, but haven't gotten around to reading them yet. And since we agree much more than we disagee, and I don't get the whole sqeeing thing over the JR Ward books either - I read the first one and liked it well enough - but certainly not to the extend that many others do - I'm not in any hurry to read them either. I have so many ahead of them I want to read more. TBR piles *sigh*
Post a Comment