Now that the dust has sorta settled on my last bit of editorializing, it's time for me to stop putting off the general housekeeping here at the Bat Cave. Case in point, a recap of the reading I got done in August. My grand total is seven books. Not too terrible, but also not very good. Here's how it all breaks down:Sensual Winds by Carmen Green (Kimani Romance, Contemporary Romance, 2009, third book in trilogy) My Grade = C. Heroine is sent to Key West to break up with the hero, who is engaged to heroine's boss. She gets there, hurricane hits shore, and the two are stranded together in the Dream House hero was building for his fiancee. Unfortunately the compelling conflict gets resolved within the first few chapters, which leaves this story adrift. The characters seemed like nice people, but bye-bye conflict made this a bit of a boring read. Full TGTBTU Review.
Sierra Bride by Jenna Kernan (Harlequin Historical, Historical Western Romance, 2009, part of series) My Grade = B-. Widowed heroine rescues hero from thugs attacking him in a back alley. He's smitten and determined to make her his mistress. Her late, unlamented husband was a no-good scoundrel, and she's not about to sell herself to another man. That is until her auntie's home is threatened and she desperately needs the money. Kernan is one of my favorite western authors and this story was a bit of a letdown. The romance was just OK, and frankly I was disappointed that the setting took a back seat in this story. Kernan's talent (I think) lies in her incredible ability to craft compelling heroines and her use of setting as conflict. This wasn't a "bad" read by any stretch of the imagination, but she's done better. Full TGTBTU Review.
Kiss It Better by Portia Da Costa (Erotic Romance, Black Lace, 2009, part of very loosely connected series) My Grade = B. Hero rode to heroine's rescue 15 years ago while on holiday, and neither of them have forgotten each other. He stumbles across her photo in a newspaper article while recovering from a car accident, and heads to her tiny English cafe determined to "take things slow" and woo her. A Big Secret plot and enough sex scenes to make your grandmother's hair fall out. Full Review.
Wild, Wild Women Of The West by Delilah Devlin, Layla Chase & Myla Jackson (Historical Western Erotic Romance Anthology, Kensington Aphrodisia, 2007) My Grade = C-. A pretty uneven anthology, but nothing outright offensive. Two C reads and one DNF. I'd be willing to try all these authors again. Full Review.
Cowboy Comes Back by Jeannie Watt (Harlequin SuperRomance, Contemporary Western Romance, 2009, book two in series) My Grade = C+. Hero and heroine were childhood sweethearts until she told him she wasn't ready for marriage and oops, his penis fell into another woman and knocked her up. He's back in town now that his rodeo career has gone bust, and heroine is beyond less than thrilled to see him. Well-written category romance, but felt the author spent too much time on "other stuff" instead of focusing on the oodles of conflict between romantic couple. Pacing issues aside, I plan on reading more by this author. Full TGTBTU Review.
Full House Seduction by A.C. Arthur (Kimani Romance, Contemporary Romance, 2009, book four in series) My Grade = C. Heroine heads to east coast to over see the final construction on a new casino her brother-in-law is building. Hero owns the construction company and is still hauling around baggage from the death of his parents. This was an OK story, and I liked the romantic couple, but this is book four in a series and has a terminal case of series-itis. Fans will probably like it, newcomers will probably be overwhelmed. Full TGTBTU Review.
After by Amy Efaw (Young Adult, Viking, 2009) My Grade = B. Star athlete, exemplary student, over-achieving 15-year-old girl with white trash mama conceals her pregnancy, gives birth to daughter in bathroom, and throws infant in trash can in alley behind her apartment building. She's arrested and awaiting a court hearing while in lock-up to determine if she should be tried as an adult. A compelling book about an extremely difficult subject that didn't descend into preachiness. Some of the adult characters rang my "too good to be true" bell, but if I had a teenage daughter, I'd want her to read this book. Full Review.
Four C grades? That's kind of depressing. And it's been ages since I've read an "A" book. Here's hoping September drops something truly spectacular in my lap.
8 comments:
Is it bad that I read "Full House Seduction" and thought immediately of Bob Saget hitting on ladies in a bar?
No? Yes?
OMG - AnimeJune! That is so wrong. So very, very wrong - LOL.
I have hopped on the Suzanne Collins bandwagon with her Hungers Games. I am on this crazy YA book reading binge lately.
Oh my AnimeJune! And Joey is in the back seducing one of his many personalities he has. I hated when he would uses different voices to be cute.
Love the picture. You always have the greatest graphics.
In other news, I'm hoping to have my August list up this weekend. Although I'm on a sort of reading binge and hate to interrupt it, so who knows.
Yikes Wendy - if you don't hit an A book soon you might get a bad case of the book blues. I hate it when a week goes by with mostly 'C' reads. I'm feeling your pain.
My most recent 'A' books have been:
Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Sieg Larsson
The Grand Sophy by Georgette Heyer
Eyes of Crow by Jeri Smith-Ready
Katie: Which reminds me - need to mention the Collins' series to Lil' Sis The English Teacher.....
Rosie: Get that reading list up woman! And if you have time, throw some of your reading mojo my way.
Rebecca: I know! I've got some good possibilities waiting for me in the immediate TBR though. So there is some hope on the horizon.
OK, thanks for reminding me about the DaCosta (brain like a sieve, I swear!)
I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for you having an "A" book this month!
Well, I don't know how you feel about childrens'/younger teen books, Wendy, but I personally like the Skulldugery Pleasent books enough to give them an A rating. You might try them, they're by Derek Landy. I know you're burned out on paranormal romances but maybe since they're not romances you'll like them.
They're about a young girl in Ireland whom, after inhertanting her late uncle's estate, finds out about a world of magic and ends up the student of Skulldugery - whom, besides being a wizard (I suddenly can't spell the other word that begins with S) is also a 400+ years old skeleton. Magic, adventure, murder, mayhem, and people trying to bring back the evil gods known as The Faceless Ones abound.
I'm currently on the 3rd book in the series. I think my favorite part so far is the fact Valkerie/Stephine doesn't feel the need to prove that she's just as good/better then Skulldugery just because she's 14 and female. She's perfectly willing to let a male be in charge and has the true inner strength to recongnize that experience counts for a lot and to let someone else lead. It's a nice change from the usual crap I see.
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