Category: B reviews (Page 16 of 74)

March Round Up

March 26, 2018 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Dark in Death by JD Robb, narrated by Susan Ericksen – B- I’m still in for this series but Dark in Death was one of my least favourite books so far. In terms of romance, there wasn’t any conflict or tension between Roarke and Eve. They’re happy, having great sex and enjoying their marriage. That’s good and it’s not exactly that I get sick of it, but at the same time, I’d like a bit of conflict (with a happy resolution of course!) to shake things up a little. The main issue I had with the book however is the premise. A killer is recreating murders from a police procedural series and particularly the section where Eve is interviewing the author and talking about fan expectations and the challenges of being an author were just too meta for me. (I had a similar issue with the latest Suzanne Brockmann.) I can’t help but feel like the actual author is talking to the reader this way and even if that is only in my imagination, it makes me uncomfortable. There wasn’t really anything objectionable in what was said but I want to be immersed in the story and forget about the author altogether when I read/listen and I couldn’t here.

The other thing to mention is that a member of Eve’s squad, Jenkinson, uses a transphobic slur twice in the course of a conversation with Eve and there was zero narrative pushback on it. I do not accept that such slurs are okay in 2062 – they’re certainly not okay now. I dearly wished Eve would have told Jenkinson off about it. Continue reading

Rough Ride by Kristen Ashley

March 22, 2018 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I read it as soon as I could after it came out because of course.

TRIGGER WARNING: Domestic abuse/violence to women. The heroine is severely beaten by her then boyfriend (not the hero) and the description is relatively graphic.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Rosalie Holloway put it all on the line for the Chaos Motorcycle Club.

Informing to Chaos on their rival club—her man’s club, Bounty—Rosalie knows the stakes. And she pays them when her man, who she was hoping to scare straight, finds out she’s betrayed him and he delivers her to his brothers to mete out their form of justice.

But really, Rosie has long been denying that, as she drifted away from her Bounty, she’s been falling in love with Everett “Snapper” Kavanagh, a Chaos brother. Snap is the biker-boy-next door with the snowy blue eyes, quiet confidence and sweet disposition who was supposed to keep her safe… and fell down on that job.

For Snapper, it’s always been Rosalie, from the first time he saw her at the Chaos Compound. He’s just been waiting for a clear shot. But he didn’t want to get it after his Rosie was left bleeding, beat down and broken by Bounty on a cement warehouse floor.

With Rosalie a casualty of an ongoing war, Snapper has to guide her to trust him, take a shot with him, build a them…

And fold his woman firmly in the family that is Chaos.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I admit it’s been a while since I read a Chaos MC book (although I did re-read Motorcycle Man over Christmas – as you do – that’s part of the Dream Man series so I’m not counting it). There have been so many books in between Own the Wind and now, I barely remember the plot. I know Tabby and Shy got their HEA but to be honest, I’d forgotten all about Rosalie.

I put it together quickly enough once I started reading Rough Ride. Rosie was the girl Shy had been dating and then he dumped her to take up with Tabby. I’m sure at the time I was all Team Tabby but I am Team Rosalie now. That’s not actually a conflict because they don’t both want the same man and everyone gets a HEA (It’s like Oprah – you get a HEA! and YOU get a HEA, etc). Continue reading

February Round Up

March 1, 2018 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

HeartShip by Amy Jo Cousins – B A sweet, mostly low-conflict novella about Josh, a college football player (he’s heading into his final year and has been previously red-shirted so he’s 25) and Benji, a 32-year-old massage therapy student who meet on an online fandom for RWBY, a (real) American anime series. After they meet online, they take their conversations to Twitter and catch up once a week to live tweet episodes of RWBY together. Benji’s handle is “princessglitter” and he’s never actually specifically stated he’s a guy. Josh has never explicitly asked him. Benji assumes Josh thinks he’s a girl. But it doesn’t matter because Josh lives in Minnesota and Benji lives in Miami.

Until Josh, who has been sidelined due to a possibly football-ending injury decides to surprise his friend in Florida with a visit.

It’s not a gay for you story. It’s clear very early on that Josh has always known he’s gay. He just hadn’t come out yet, not even really to himself. However, once he meets Benji in person, their flirty online banter and the deep friendship they’ve developed spills over into physical intimacy. It’s fair to say that Josh takes to gay sex like a duck to water and he barely has a qualm about coming out – even to his teammates back in Minnesota. I read it as a “show the world as you’d prefer it to be” kind of thing rather than (unfortunately) actually realistic. There is a little homophobia referenced but it’s dealt with quickly and isn’t a big feature in the story. Continue reading

Goodbye Paradise by Sarina Bowen, narrated by Teddy Hamilton & Dake Bliss

February 25, 2018 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I bought the book when it was re-released last year but hadn’t found time to read it. The audiobook is part of the #AudibleRomance package so I listened to it instead.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Most people called it a cult. But for twenty years, Josh and Caleb called it home.

In Paradise, there is no television. No fast food. Just long hours of farm work and prayer on a dusty Wyoming ranch, and nights in a crowded bunkhouse. The boys of the Compound are kept far from the sinners’ world.

But Joshua doesn’t need temptation to sin. His whole life, he’s wanted his best friend, Caleb. By day they work side by side. Only when Josh closes his eyes at night can they be together the way he craves.

It can never be. And his survival depends on keeping his terrible desires secret.

Caleb has always protected Josh against the worst of the bullying at the Compound. But he has secrets of his own, and a plan to get away — until it all backfires.

Josh finds himself homeless in a world that doesn’t want him. Can Caleb find him in time? And will they find a place of safety, where he can admit to Josh how he really feels?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): The trajectory of the romance between Josh and Caleb in Goodbye Paradise is unusual for the genre. For one thing, they’ve known each other all their lives. There’s no meet cute. But the main difference is that they always love each other. We don’t see the development of those feelings, there is no courtship as such. Rather, the story is about how the two men reveal their existing love for one another and how they eventually come out into the open, showing that love to everyone by doing so. Continue reading

January Round Up

February 1, 2018 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Wow! by Sean Kennedy – B+. This brand new release from Sean Kennedy feels like a little bit of a departure – for one thing, it’s a bit hotter than I’m used to from him (not a complaint). Although it’s not super explicit there are certainly more than kisses.

Mark Hodges works in a bank during the week, but on Saturday nights, he dons drag and becomes “Allotta Moxie” who struts her stuff on stage at a local gay bar, lip-syncing to ABBA, Kylie and other icons. In the past, revealing Allotta to a boyfriend has led to the demise of the relationship so he’s cautious about who he tells and when.

Mark has a crush on Joel, a new employee (not a direct report so nothing icky here) at the bank but he’s shy and lacks confidence. Allotta has a distinct personality. While the book does explicitly confirm that Allotta is an aspect of Mark’s personality it is also clear that Mark only lets that side of himself out when Allotta is on stage. Outside of that, he’s a shy boy. Allotta, however, is a maneater. Continue reading

December Round Up

January 2, 2018 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Team Phison by Chace Verity – B- One of my friends recommended this novella to me on Twitter and as it was only 99c I bought it (I’m cheap). While I didn’t connect with it quite as well as she did, I liked this story about a 55 year old guy who meets a 27 year old young man online when they both play a (fictional) MMORPG (that’s Massively Multiplayer Role Playing Game for the non-geeks in the room) which also has some FPS (first person shooter) aspects to it. Phil Hutton is a grumpy gay restaurant owner in Provincetown who broke up with his long term partner a little while before the book began. He’s lonely and looking for love but not having much success. Tyson Falls is a young bisexual man working as a server in a pizza and burger place in Georgia. Over time, they become friends and then more, eventually having to deal with the distance between them to get their HEA.

The story is told entirely from Phil’s POV so I found Tyson to be somewhat opaque at times. While the age difference didn’t bother me, sometimes I was a little concerned about the relative power differential between them – Tyson doesn’t have much money, Phil is quite well off, relatively speaking. Continue reading