Category: C reviews (Page 9 of 20)

The Return of Rafe MacKade by Nora Roberts, narrated by Luke Daniels

June 8, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’ve had this entire series on my TBR for ages. I’m reviewing the second book for AudioGals and I thought I’d listen to the first one as well (and beforehand) so I bought it from Audible. My TBL is much shorter than my TBR and sometimes, listening is a way I can get to something more quickly.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Ten years after disappearing from Antietam, Maryland, the bad boy has returned. Cleaned up and successful now—and still dangerously good-looking—Rafe MacKade sets the town on fire, and tongues wagging.

Lovely newcomer Regan Bishop is intrigued—what kind of man could cause this sort of talk? She’ s just about to find out.…

What worked for me (and what didn’t): What struck me the most about this book, is its plot similarities to the first Inn Boonsboro book, The Next Always. That series had three brothers, this one has four but, Rafe returns to town, having bought a rundown old mansion which had historic significance in terms of the US Civil War and which is also haunted. There is also a domestic violence subplot – although in The Next Always, it is a stalker wanna-be-boyfriend and in this book it relates to one of the secondary characters – who is the heroine of book 3, The Heart of Devin MacKade. Of course, The Return of Rafe MacKade was first published in 1995 by Silhouette and so pre-dates The Next Always by decades. But because this book came second to my ears, it is the one I’m giving the side-eye to. I realise that’s ass backwards.

A Shocking Delight by Jo Beverley

May 16, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I bought it because: Jo Beverley and because: Company of Rogues. Duh.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) The man she shouldn’t want. The woman he shouldn’t marry…

David Kerslake, smuggling master from The Dragon’s Bride, is now Earl of Wyvern and must survive the ton as well as the Preventive Officers.

Lucy Potter, daughter of a wealthy merchant, is more interested in trade than in the men after her dowry. When forced to have a London season, she sets out to enjoy herself rather than to find a husband. But once she meets the notorious Earl of Wyvern, her resolve weakens, and when they kiss, it dissolves—even though her instincts warn he’s dangerous.

Wyvern has a dark secret, which means he must win a rich bride. Lucinda Potter seems ideal. Not for her beauty and her lively charm, but because at first meeting she seems unlikely to realize the truth.

As he comes to know her, however, as they spar and kiss, he realizes she’s too clever and honest by far. Marrying Lucy would mean living a lie with the woman he has come to love….

What worked for me (and what didn’t): It’s been 7 years since I read a Rogues book. Not all of the Rogues feature here and most of them aren’t on page very much. Nicholas Delaney does his usual machinations to make things turn out right but once he’s done his deed, he’s out of the story too. It was nice to visit with the Rogues again but I can’t say this book was particularly memorable for me. There wasn’t all that much keeping Lucy and David apart and when they are faced with a problem, acting like the sensible adults they are, they talk about it frankly – and the obstacle is thus quickly resolved. That meant, as much as I appreciated they were grown ups who could communicate, the tension quotient in the story was low.

Straight Shooter by Heidi Belleau

April 20, 2014 / Kaetrin

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

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) This macho jock has a crooked little secret.

College hockey player Austin Puett is in trouble. Unless he starts treating his flamboyantly gay roommate with respect, he’ll lose his room and his job at Rear Entrance Video. But Austin’s got a not-so-straight secret of his own: nothing turns him on more than insults implying he’s gay—even though he’s definitely not!—and all his old coping methods have stopped working.

Pure desperation drives him to rent a Mischievous Pictures porn flick about straight men tricked into servicing Puck, a male dominant. Instead of letting off steam, though, it just leaves him craving more, more, more, and suddenly, Austin finds himself at Mischievous Pictures Studios for an audition. After all, you can be Gay For Pay and still be straight . . . right?

But meeting Liam Williams, the real person behind Puck, confuses Austin even more. Liam really seems to like him as a person, and Austin likes him back. And while Gay For Pay’s okay, what does it make Austin if he still wants Liam when the cameras aren’t rolling?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I’m not sure exactly what to say about this novel. Any review is necessarily the reviewer’s personal reaction to a book but my thoughts about Straight Shooter ended up being a bit more about me than the usual review I write. The story caused me to examine some things about my own thinking and because it’s my blog and I can and because it’s my honest reaction, that’s partly what I’m going to talk about here. I like books that make me think and critical thinking works inwardly as well of course.

March Round Up

April 3, 2014 / Kaetrin

on Paper/eBook

**NB – this review first appeared in the March ARRA members newsletter**

Too Busy for Love by Tamsin Baker – C- Too Busy for Love is a short (about 35 reading pages) erotic m/m novella featuring rich mergers and acquisitions man – Thomas and a younger architecture student/part time gardener, Luke.

Even though Australian spelling it used (eg mum), the book is set in America. I think Luke is about 19 or 20 – he is two years away from an architecture degree. The bonus for him working at Thomas’ estate is access to the extensive library for study after work. When Thomas stumbles across Luke late one night, he is instantly attracted and promptly propositions Luke. Luke hesitates because he’s not sure he’s gay.

Thomas doesn’t usually do any form of relationship and prefers no-strings sex but Luke has him thinking about other things.

I admit I was troubled by the idea that having sex in itself is the identifier of sexuality. I believe sexuality is more complicated than that. I also found it a bit unlikely that this 19/20 year old man would not have checked out a bit of gay porn on the internet, perhaps done a little solo experimenting – but apparently he has not. There is also a bit of pronoun abuse – when the main characters are both men it can sometimes be confusing which “his” we are reading about.

It is a very short story so there isn’t a lot of time for deep characterisation or deep discussion of sexuality issues either for that matter. I think it works better as an erotic story because most of the page count is filled with pretty hot sexual encounters between Luke and Thomas.

I didn’t really see them fall in love. I didn’t see why they fell in love. I saw why they were attracted and their definite sexual chemistry. The story does have a romantic epilogue – I wouldn’t have minded having more details about their relationship apart from sex within the story though.

BUY IT:
AMAZON KOBO

The Company Man (Red Dragon #1) by Becky Black

March 31, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I saw some good reviews and it was on special at LooseID so I bought it.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Jarvez Kashari travels light, sacrificing relationships for ambition. Alyn Evans is out to establish himself as a company captain. Falling in love was not part of either man’s plans.

The Red Dragon is a ship in trouble. It was once the pride of the Outer Spiral Trading Company’s fleet, but is neglected and fallen from its old glory. It’s a ship in need of love – and a new captain.

Alyn Evans is a man in need of a new challenge. He’s an ex-warship captain and peace has put him out of a job. A man of his experience should have no trouble commanding a merchant ship…he thinks. But of all the challenges he faces on his first trip out, the hardest one is keeping his hands off his gorgeous and fascinating company rep, Jarvez Kashari.

Jarvez Kashari is a man with a plan. He’s determined to make a name as the company’s best trader and thinks reviving the fortunes of the Red Dragon is the perfect opportunity to prove himself. Jarvez travels light, sacrificing personal relationships to focus on his ambitions – until he meets Alyn Evans. Falling in love was not part of the plan.

It’s four months to Earth. Four months for Alyn to juggle passengers, prisoners, suspicious officers, a resentful crew and the intensifying relationship with Jarvez. Four months in space with a traitor aboard…

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I don’t have tons of experience with science-fiction/space opera – although I adore the Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. That kind of world building is not present here – in part because it is a relatively short book (as compared to say, Shards of Honor) and in part because it is firstly a romance IMO. (Shards of Honor is primarily a sci-fi book which a romantic element.) My husband and I still grieve over the loss of Firefly and enjoy various sci-fi tv shows, so it’s not a wonder that I’m interested in combining my love or romance with sci-fi. I was prepared for the world building to be less developed here – it’s a trade off I don’t mind making for a satisfying romance but there were a couple of things I found jarring. I don’t know whether it is a quirk of mine or reflective of my inexperience with the genre but it was kind of strange to see Earth being apparently the same as it is now except for adding hyperspace travel. There are still countries – Jarvez’ family is from Iran, Alyn is from Wales, one of the other officers is from France, smuggler is from Australia (of course, because: convicts *rolls eyes*). While I enjoyed the multiculturality (I know that’s not a real word) of the cast (and how aspects of those things were woven (mostly) skilfully into the characterisations), I haven’t come across future Earth being described quite that way before. Usually, it is a colony or planet where the racial identity is “human” for example. I found it harder to imagine space travel hundreds of light years away and humans born on Mars right along with the kind of everyday Earth I know now. I don’t suppose, when I think about it, it is any more unrealistic than any other sci-fi I’ve read, but there you are.

Review at ARRA

March 19, 2014 / Kaetrin

I have a review up at the ARRA blog today – Dark Witch by Nora Roberts. I think it’s fair to say that I prefer her stand alone romantic suspense stories to her trilogies in a general sense. This was entertaining enough but a lot of it felt like set up for the series and there wasn’t really enough of the romance for me. That said, I expect I’ll read the rest of the series.