Category: C reviews (Page 14 of 20)

Tangled by Emma Chase

May 29, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Drew Evans is a winner. Handsome and arrogant, he makes multimillion dollar business deals and seduces New York’s most beautiful women with just a smile. He has loyal friends and an indulgent family. So why has he been shuttered in his apartment for seven days, miserable and depressed?He’ll tell you he has the flu.But we all know that’s not really true.

Katherine Brooks is brilliant, beautiful and ambitious. She refuses to let anything – or anyone – derail her path to success. When Kate is hired as the new associate at Drew’s father’s investment banking firm, every aspect of the dashing playboy’s life is thrown into a tailspin. The professional competition she brings is unnerving, his attraction to her is distracting, his failure to entice her into his bed is exasperating.

Then, just when Drew is on the cusp of having everything he wants, his overblown confidence threatens to ruin it all. Will he be able untangle his feelings of lust and tenderness, frustration and fulfillment? Will he rise to the most important challenge of his life?

Can Drew Evans win at love?

Tangled is not your mother’s romance novel. It is an outrageous, passionate, witty narrative about a man who knows a lot about women…just not as much as he thinks he knows. As he tells his story, Drew learns the one thing he never wanted in life, is the only thing he can’t live without.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I am a hero-centric reader so stories told from the hero POV are always ones which pique my interest. I knew going in that Drew was an asshat. And he REALLY is. For most of the book (and in some areas, all of it – more on that later), he is a COMPLETE jerk. What saved him (mostly) for me was that he got his comeuppance (brought low by true lurrve (TM) don’t ya know?) and that (and he) was (often) very funny.

Never a Hero by Marie Sexton

May 16, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received an ARC from NetGalley.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Everyone deserves a hero.Owen Meade is desperately in need of a hero. Raised by a mother who made him ashamed of his stutter, his sexual orientation, and his congenitally amputated arm, Owen lives like a hermit in his Tucker Springs apartment. But then hunky veterinarian Nick Reynolds moves in downstairs. Nick is sexy and confident, and makes Owen comfortable with himself in a way nobody ever has. He also introduces Owen to his firecracker of a little sister, who was born with a similar congenital amputation but never let it stand in her way. When she signs the two of them up for piano lessons—and insists that they play together in a recital—Owen can’t find a way to say no. Especially since it gives him a good excuse to spend more time with Nick.Owen knows he’s falling hard for his neighbor, but every time he gets close, Nick inexplicably pulls away. Battling his mother’s scorn and Nick’s secrets, Owen soon realizes that instead of waiting for a hero, it’s time to be one—for himself and for Nick.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Let’s start with what I liked. I thought (with the exception of Owen’s mother) that issues of disability were well handled in the novel. Owen has a congenital amputation of his left arm below the elbow. Because of how he was raised (more on that later) he is very sensitive about it and is basically a shut in. After he meets Nick and also Nick’s sister June (who has a congenital amputation of her right arm), he is shown a new-to-him way of dealing with his disability and Nick’s direct speech opens Owen’s eyes as to why many people seem uncomfortable – not that they think he’s a freak but they’re not sure what to do and default to ignoring it rather than risk offence. Through his relationship with Nick, Owen finds his world has opened up and his focus changes. I’m no expert, but it seemed to me to that disability was handled pretty well in the book.

I’m over at AudioGals…

May 13, 2013 / Kaetrin

with a review of Every Breath You Take by Judith McNaught, narrated by Susan Denaker.

The narration saved the experience for me. Come see why, here.

True by Erin McCarthy

May 11, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) When Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that, as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…unbeknownst to Rory.Tyler knows he’s not good enough for Rory. She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t resist taking up her roommates on an opportunity to get to know her better. There’s something about her honesty that keeps him coming back when he knows he shouldn’t…Torn between common sense and desire, the two find themselves caught up in a passionate relationship. But when Tyler’s broken family threatens to destroy his future, and hers, Rory will need to decide whether to cut her ties to his risky world or follow her heart, no matter what the cost…

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I have mixed feelings about this book. There were parts of it that resonated with me, parts which infuriated me and all manner of things in between. The writing is engaging and eminently readable. On the other hand, I thought the characterisations were sometimes thin and some plot threads didn’t really go anywhere. I’m finding this one hard to grade, I hope to have reached a decision by the time I finish writing the review.

Bad Attitude by KA Mitchell

May 8, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’m a fan of KA Mitchell’s work and I bought this soonest after release.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads): When did save a life become change a life?As the openly gay middle son of the most powerful family between Manhattan and Miami, Gavin Montgomery knows his role—look good in a tuxedo and don’t make waves.Waves are the least of his worries when he tries and fails to keep a friend from jumping off a high bridge. His last thought as he falls in too is that someone else will have to take over as family disappointment…until he’s pulled from the water by a man with an iron grip, a sexy mouth and a chip on his shoulder the size of the national deficit.

Police rescue diver Jamie Donnigan finally has life the way he wants it. Okay, he could have done without losing his father, quitting smoking and watching his friends drift into couplehood. At least he’s managed to escape that particular trap.

When Gavin’s father turns Jamie’s routine rescue into a media circus, he figures if he’s going to suffer for his good deed, he might as well enjoy a roll in the sack. But Jamie’s not immune to Gavin’s cultivated charm…and all the risks that come along with giving in to it.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I’m sorry to say I was disappointed in this book. Gavin and Jamie mainly converse in snark and I didn’t see enough of not-snark and general relationship development to believe completely in the romance. I felt like the story was just getting started when, rather abruptly, the story ended. Told in alternating third person POV, the reader is able to get in the heads of both men. So I felt like I knew what they were thinking. But they didn’t seem to really talk about those things with each other, so I didn’t feel like they knew each other that well.

Undeclared by Jen Frederick

May 7, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I was provided with a review copy by the author.

ETA April 2015: At the time I accepted/read the book and wrote the review, I didn’t know Jen Frederick was also Jane Litte from Dear Author. No Jen Frederick books have been reviewed by me, anywhere, since I became aware of this and, given my existing relationship with Jane, I will not be reviewing any more of her books. I will continue to update my personal Goodreads account with all the books I read as per usual but, consistent with my review policy, there won’t be further formal reviews of Jen Frederick’s work.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) For four years, Grace Sullivan wrote to a Marine she never met, and fell in love. But when his deployment ended, so did the letters. Ever since that day, Grace has been coasting, academically and emotionally. The one thing she’s decided? No way is Noah Jackson — or any man — ever going to break her heart again.Noah has always known exactly what he wants out of life. Success. Stability. Control. That’s why he joined the Marines and that’s why he’s fighting his way — literally — through college. Now that he’s got the rest of his life on track, he has one last conquest: Grace Sullivan. But since he was the one who stopped writing, he knows that winning her back will be his biggest battle yet.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): When the author approached me regarding a review, I read the blurb and then went to her website and read the two excerpts available. I liked the premise and I liked the excerpts, particularly the one from Noah’s POV, so I said yes. I’m glad I did but the experience wasn’t wholly successful for me