Category: C reviews (Page 18 of 20)

Two Tickets to Paradise

September 27, 2012 / Kaetrin

This is the latest Dreamspinner Press anthology, which I picked up from NetGalley.

Because there are so many short stories included, I’ll change up my usual review format and talk briefly about each one.

A Good Night’s Sleep by Anna Martin – B- – Two guys backpacking through Thailand and Malaysia meet on a train and hook up (yep, train sex). The story is very short, so the hopeful kind of HFN is appropriate. I know I got this from NetGalley and I can expect to find some errors which (hopefully) won’t be there in the final version, but can I just say that Sydney, Australia is spelt with a “y” and not an “i”?

Fall Forward by Jamie Love – D – 2 college guys take their first vacation together. I didn’t really enjoy this story; it was a bit clumsy and delved into boring minutiae.

Reconnecting by Claire Russett – B – Physics professor meets up with the ex who broke his heart at a conference in Corfu. Quite good but I didn’t get the excitement over getting a free 16GB flashdrive as conference swag – are they that expensive?

Mending and Moving On by Cecilia Ryan – B – Two guys meet up in Spain – one is nursing a broken heart (although, not that broken because he connects pretty quickly with the other guy, let’s face it). Apart from that I don’t like it when adults, especially guys “giggle”, I did enjoy this one. It was quite sweet overall and had a believable hopeful kind of HFN. But, do men really say I don’t like being “penetrated”?

The Jeep Guy by Eric Renner C- This was an odd little story which took me a while to work out – Guy meets another guy during a beach vacation. The story is told initially via blog posts but by the end that device seemed to have been dropped, but without any real explanation.

All at Sea by JL Merrow – B Story about first love on holiday on the Isle of Wight with a sweet surprise at the end. Touching and happy. I liked it.

Haunted by Jana Denardo – C Story about a ghost hunter writing and his photographer boyfriend. I was expecting a ghostly conflict but it was more about the writer being worried his boyfriend was bored/unhappy about all of their working vacations – which was sorted out by one simple conversation.

Something Different by Sean Michael – B Very sexy story about 2 ex-lovers getting back together after 10 years apart, when they bump into each other while they are both holidaying in Las Vegas. I wouldn’t have minded a longer story and to know more about the how of their future, but I did believe they would make it.

Perpendicularity by Mal Peters – B- Cute story about a pro snow boarder and a chef who meet in the French Alps. It has a hopeful HFN ending. Strangely, the story was told in 1st person present tense which felt a bit odd. I would have happily read more of these two however.

Sunlight on Water by Susan Laine – D The clumsy writing made this one difficult for me to finish “He had that surfer thing going on and the surfboard next to him emphasised the impression” (ya think?). Young guys meet on the beach. One is a hustler but nevertheless; insta-love. Did not like.

Off the Tracks by Chelle Dugan – C- This was a kind of odd time travel story. A lot of telling not showing (which I can kind of understand in such a short format, but still). I liked the style but the time travel thing threw me a bit.

All You Need by Dar Mavison – B- Relationship in trouble story – a couple go to New York for a weekend and find some common ground. If the story had’ve been longer, perhaps I would have more confidence that their problems were over, but it’s a more hopeful than happy ending. I liked the alternating first person POV and how the same problems were shown from each man’s perspective. What they also had in common was that they didn’t want the relationship to end.

Know Nobody by GR Richards – C- Story about an older guy who takes a trip to somewhere he knows nobody so he can hook up. He gets lucky with three (!) younger men after “undies night” at a local gay bar. His BFF turns up and they suddenly realise they belong together. Lots of sex but not much emotional connection.

New Lease by BG Thomas – C+ A guy who’s been someone’s dirty little secret for 20 years is still grieving his death and goes to their holiday rental considering suicide. He meets a handsome man there who awakens his dormant libido and gives him hope for the future. I liked the style but struggled a bit with why anyone would have put up with that for so long.

Krung Thep, City of Angels by Zee Kensington – C Young guy hooks up with older more experienced traveller in Bangkok. The young guy felt very young – much younger than 23. Hopeful happy for now ending.

Overall Grade: B-/C+

I’m over at ARRA today

September 26, 2012 / Kaetrin

My review of Nora Roberts’ The Last Boyfriend is up at the ARRA blog. They don’t grade over there. But I gave it a C+. Come over and say hi! 🙂

A Younger Man by Cameron Dane

August 27, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I heard the buzz on Twitter. The words “carrot sex” were used. I bought.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Recently divorced and out of the closet, Noah Maitland is a regular-Joe, salt-of-the-earth guy who is newly navigating the world of dating other men. So far he hasn’t had a lot of luck. Noah is a father first — he has two teenage sons. As the owner of a handyman business in a small community, Noah wants someone to love who is also appropriate for where he is in his life.

Zane Halliday is a young man — much too young for Noah — who is struggling to take care of his brother and sister and meet his bills every month. Recently thrown out of his apartment, Zane stumbles on Noah, literally. Noah offers Zane a place where he and his siblings can temporarily live, and later gives him a part time job.

Each man is dealing with his own set of problems, and both crave someone to talk to and trust. Soon a friendship between Noah and Zane blossoms. But Noah could never fall for someone so much younger than he is — not to mention Zane is not gay. But what if sexually innocent Zane isn’t as straight as he assumed he was? How will Noah be able to resist this much younger man once Zane figures out the only person he wants is Noah?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I read Grey’s Awakening some time ago and barely remember it now. I haven’t read others in the series but I think this one works fine as a standalone novel. Unfortunately, the novel didn’t work that well for me overall.

I felt that it dragged in parts – a lot of the first third/half of the book was spent with Noah and Zane separately angsting about how they ought not be together and how they should hide their feelings. I had thought, from the blurb, that there would be an initial development of a friendship which would then become attraction – on that basis the over 300 pages seemed appropriate. But the attraction was pretty much immediate and the angsting felt drawn out to me.

Parts of the dialogue felt very unrealistic to me – more suited to the narrative perhaps but not what people would actually say. Here’s an example of what I mean:

“I was going to tell you something like that a minute ago,” Zane chuckled, and new pink bloomed under the afterglow still making his skin glisten, “but when you started coming so powerfully, I lost myself, and all I could do was fall into the pleasure you were feeling and willfully let it suck me into the abyss too.”

I mean, who talks like that?

So, there were some problems. I did enjoy the way Noah was with his sons and I’m glad that Noah was able to reconcile with his father. It took time and that felt realistic to me. But, There was one point in the book where Zane is threatened with some naked/sex photos regarding the custody of his brother and sister. Given the estrangement between Noah and his dad, it did feel like a strange choice for him to come to the legal rescue for Zane – surely he would have had to see the photos?

The set up, with Noah meeting Zane and then immediately helping him out with a place to live and lending him his car indefinitely made me raise my eyebrows a bit – Noah’s “good guy radar” must be stellar. Zane wanted to be considered an equal to Noah in the relationship and I can certainly see how he would struggle with that. But, Zane clearly read as a much younger man to Noah – older than his years maybe but very much younger than Noah and I’m not sure that was really addressed in the book by anyone.

Zane and Noah do like to have sex outdoors – it’s a wonder they weren’t sprung more often considering. For an older man, Noah certainly has a short recovery time! And, then there’s the carrot sex. Yep, sex and a carrot. Enough said.

What else? I’m not a gay man so I can’t speak with any authority on this, but it seemed odd to me that a self described gay man (as opposed to say, a bisexual man) would refer to his heterosexual sex life as very satisfying. Admittedly, I haven’t spoken to ~~many~~ any gay men on the topic (can you imagine how that conversation would go? o-0) but I’ve heard Dan Savage say on his podcast that gay guys don’t like to have sex with women. Maybe he’s wrong? Anyway, it felt odd in the book and didn’t quite explain to me why he would leave an otherwise happy marriage to go have sex with guys if everything was so wonderful with his wife. Just sayin’.

Grade: C-

Never Enough by Lauren Dane

August 25, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’ve read all the other Brown Sibling books and finally took the plunge and bought this one.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) ALL THE RIGHT NOTES…

Gillian Forrester spent most of her life running from who and what she came from. Until Miles came along. From the moment she held the tiny newborn her older sister didn’t want, Gillian stopped running and began to build a life for herself and her adopted son. Now, thirteen years later, as Gillian’s sister lay dying, she reveals the father’s identity and makes Gillian promise to find him.

Adrian Brown is the epitome of the successful rock star. He’s seen and done it all, with few regrets. It takes a lot to shock him but the bombshell that he has a thirteen-year-old son rocks his world. And Adrian is even more surprised when the buttoned-up, elegant woman who’s raising Miles snags his erotic and romantic attention.

The last thing Gillian expected was to find herself getting hot and heavy with a person like Adrian. But as much as she wants to open up and give herself fully to this amazing man, she’s afraid the secrets of her past and Adrian’s problems with trusting people may keep them apart for good. If love isn’t enough can they find the trust they need?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Lauren Dane writes hot dirty sex scenes and the ones in Never Enough are no exception but there were other issues in the book which ultimately left me feeling unsatisfied.

Gillian is an ex-pat Brit. Even though she has been in the US for many years, she still speaks in a British accent and uses a lot of British idiom. Unfortunately, I wasn’t convinced that the author had a complete grasp on British idiom. It felt to me a bit like someone had a grab bag of British words and phrases and inserted them into the text at random. I’m not English, but Australian idiom borrows heavily from the UK and as my husband was born in London, I have many British relatives. I know what they sound like when they speak. It felt authentic in the book only about half the time and it was something which I found constantly jarring.

“He was base and dirty and she was right chuffed to have him in her bed.”

Maybe it’s different in the UK nowadays but “chuffed” was a word my father used occasionally. It means pleased in a surprised kind of way. I associate it with old people and never with sex (and not just because dad used it). Perhaps the American audience won’t notice this quite as much but it was something which didn’t work well for me. Contrast that with my experience in Beautiful Mess by Lucy V. Morgan (who is British I gather so she does have a head start here) where the British idiom was flawless.

The other thing which bothered me in this book was that everyone was so treacly-good. With few exceptions, everyone was loving and kind and generous and wonderful and amazing. I felt a bit smothered in all the goodness and it felt unrealistic to me. Some of the conversations between Adrian and Brody didn’t feel like “guy” conversations to me.

I like the Brown siblings and I felt that the balance of the main protagonists and the secondary characters was a lot better in this book than the previous one (where I felt that the rest of the family overwhelmed the story). Miles was a perfect 13 year old boy and I found him a little too good to be true though. I did like Gillian and Adrian. I initially thought that the conflict in the story was a bit on the tame side – but in the end, I changed my mind about that aspect. Adrian has serious trust issues and Gillian is very reserved – so what seemed simple on the surface was actually a fairly big deal between them.

I still think Laid Bare is the book of the series, this one was just okay for me.

What else? There were a number of editing issues. This book is a trade paperback (so, expensive – here it would retail for about $35) and at the Book Depository it’s $13.52. Even the ebook, if you can get it, is $9.99. Published by Penguin, I’d expect that it would have had a professional editor go over it a few times, so to find so many errors was disapointing to say the least.

Grade: C-

Forever and A Day by Jill Shalvis

August 16, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I picked this up from NetGalley. I’m a fan of Shalvis and Lucky Harbor.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) LOVE CAN HAPPEN IN A HEARTBEAT.

Grace never thought she’d be starting her life over from scratch. Losing everything has landed her in Lucky Harbor, working as a dog walker for overwhelmed ER doctor Josh Scott. But the day his nanny fails to show up, Grace goes from caring for Josh’s loveable mutt to caring for his rambunctious kids. Soon Grace is playing house with the sexy single dad…

With so many people depending on him, Josh has no time for anything outside of his clinic and family–until Grace arrives in town. Now this brainy blonde is turning his life inside out and giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “good bedside manner.” Josh and Grace don’t know if what they have can last. But in a town like Lucky Harbor, a lifetime of love starts with just one day…

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Looking back over this latest three books, I think that At Last was my favourite. I enjoyed Forever and a Day but some things about Grace bothered me too much for me to really like her. And Josh was not a good dad or brother for most of the book. His priority was clearly his patients and his family was suffering. There are other doctors but only one Toby’s dad and Anna’s brother.

Grace first: I thought Grace got away with some pretty arrogant behaviour which Josh barely called her on. And when he did, he ended up apologising for it. Grace has no experience with dogs or children or siblings, but almost from day 1 she is giving Josh “advice” on how to manage his life, his son and his sister. I was sitting there thinking it wasn’t any of her business and what made her the expert – it made me a little grumpy. This continues on for most of the book actually. While her advice was essentially good advice, I didn’t really know why Grace would have any insight. It felt to me like the author’s own parenting insights were being channeled through Grace. If Grace had been an experienced nanny and had earned her place to speak so to Josh, I may have taken a different view but as it was, someone who doesn’t know any better coming into to Josh’s home and telling him he’s doing it wrong felt incredibly rude to me.

As for Josh, I found it difficult to see how he’d managed for the previous 5 years, essentially alone. Toby seemed remarkably well adjusted for having a dad who wasn’t around much. How had he managed for that long without things being a lot worse than it was? I mean, things were bad, but not as bad as I would have expected in the circumstances. It was nice to see a male character realise that he “can’t have it all” for a change. Props for that. But, many points were deducted because the minute he got himself some spare time he signed up for a basketball game instead of spending more time with his son, which was like, THE POINT. I liked Josh but taking 5 years to work out that he’s overstretched overstretched me. I don’t see why Josh ended up being the town hero for some pretty neglectful parenting. Like Robin at Dear Author, I think a more interesting story would have been him realising earlier in the book and reconnecting with his family and having a relationship with Grace. I just didn’t buy that Grace could be the fixer here – she’s not Mary Poppins.

Anna, Josh’s sister, read more like 16/17 than 21 to me. The characters in the book treated her like she was younger too IMO.

I also wasn’t sure about Grace’s conflict with her family/identity being based on her being adopted. I certainly get that a child can feel inadequate and believe they’re not able to live up to parental expectations – but because she was adopted? You don’t need to be adopted to feel inadequate. Hanging it all on her adoption and genetics felt a little off to me. Given Grace’s conflict with her family, her parents actually didn’t play a large part in the book and there was no scene where she told them she was living her own life and staying in Lucky Harbor etc like I kind of expected there to be.

That said, the chemistry between Josh and Grace was sizzling and their scenes together (when she wasn’t bossing him around and leaving aside the “what have you done with Toby?” question) were fun and sexy.

I did like the bromance between Josh, Ty and Matt (and even Sawyer) and the scenes where the boys have “found” a copy of Cosmopolitan at the local bar and are poring over the sex advice was hilarious.

Favourite Quote:

Ty pointed his beer at Josh. “Want to know what I think?”

“No,” Josh said.

“I think you have a case of being a little girl. Maybe you should prescribe yourself a heavy dose of man-the-fuck-up.”

Grade: C

Firelight by Kristen Callihan

August 6, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I bought this one a while back after hearing the buzz. More recently Mandi at SmexyBooks loved it and I moved it up my TBR.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Miranda Ellis is a woman tormented. Plagued since birth by a strange and powerful gift, she has spent her entire life struggling to control her exceptional abilities. Yet one innocent but irreversible mistake has left her family’s fortune decimated and forced her to wed London’s most nefarious nobleman.

They will burn for eternity . . .

Lord Benjamin Archer is no ordinary man. Doomed to hide his disfigured face behind masks, Archer knows it’s selfish to take Miranda as his bride. Yet he can’t help being drawn to the flame-haired beauty whose touch sparks a passion he hasn’t felt in a lifetime. When Archer is accused of a series of gruesome murders, he gives in to the beastly nature he has fought so hard to hide from the world. But the curse that haunts him cannot be denied. Now, to save his soul, Miranda will enter a world of dark magic and darker intrigue. For only she can see the man hiding behind the mask.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Generally speaking I’m a fan of masked hero/Beauty and the Beast stories. Unfortunately, this one didn’t work for me as well as I’d hoped. Perhaps it was at least partly that I’d just finished The Iron Duke (which I felt was much better written) or maybe it was a hangover from listening to some wonderful Susanna Kearsley novels on audio (her writing is just beautiful).

I found the beginning of the book confusing. I think it was supposed to tempt and tease me but it was a little too mysterious for my liking.

But the major thing which worked against my enjoyment of the book was that Archer and Miranda did not spend enough time together. The big mystery in the story is what lies behind Archer’s mask. Almost all of their interaction circled around to this issue and, because it was not to be revealed until near the end of the book, the characters had fairly brief encounters that came across as episodic and somewhat repetitive. Miranda and Archer don’t consummate their marriage until deep into the book as well. That is the other source of tension in the story. For me, that build of tension went past pleasant/exciting and on into frustrating. If either of those issues had been resolved a little earlier, I might have felt happier with the book but as it was, the big reveal and the consummation occurred at basically the same time and very late in the story. I found myself skimming sections of the book and tuning back in when Miranda and Archer were on the page together. They were the best parts of the book and of the most interest to me. (So, I don’t know if Miranda’s fiery talent was ever explained – if it was I missed it.)

Because Miranda and Archer didn’t spent a lot of page time together, I’m not sure I bought that they were in love. I wanted to but I don’t think I made it across the line. I felt I was being told rather than shown. The book did pick up toward the end. I felt the writing improved and, as Archer and Miranda got closer, I became more interested.

I didn’t think the book was bad. It’s just that when Miranda and Archer weren’t on the page, I lost interest. And when they were, for a lot of the book, it was frustrating for me because nothing much seemed to be happening in terms of their relationship arc.

What else? Archer’s friend (for want of a better term) Ian McKinnon (who, I gather is the hero of the next book, Moonglow) is (apparently) immortal. How he manages to go about in society with no-one wondering that he doesn’t age wasn’t really explained though.

I seem to be an outlier regarding this book though. It might well be a case of “it’s not you, it’s me”. Mandi loved it as did a lot of my other Twitter friends. It is averaging 3.99 on Goodreads. Someone else I follow on Twitter mentioned that she “didn’t care for it” and I think that probably sums up my reaction. I wanted to like it and I thought the premise was great, but… My enjoyment and satisfaction did pick up toward the end of the book but I’m unsure whether I will try the next one in the series.

Grade: C/C-