I’m over at Dear Author with a review of November Rain by Daisy Harris. I enjoyed the multicultural aspects of the story but in general terms, it was not a success for me.
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Why I read it: This was a Dear Author Daily Deal I picked up for 99c. I have a thing for the rescue trope.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Amber Scott should be enjoying life as a college freshman. She should be pursuing her dream of becoming a veterinarian. She should be working hard to make sense of her precalculus math class.
She shouldn’t be waking up her college roommate with screaming nightmares. She shouldn’t be flashing back, reliving the three weeks of hell she barely survived last year. And she definitely shouldn’t be spending time with sexy player Marcus Reid.
But engineering student Marcus is the only one keeping Amber from failing her math course, so she grudgingly lets him into her life. She never expects the king of hookups will share his painful past. Or that she’ll tell him her secrets in return, opening up and trusting him in a way she thought she’d never be able to again.
When their fragile future together is threatened by a stalker Amber thought was locked away for good, Marcus is determined to protect her. And Amber is determined to protect Marcus…even if that means pushing him away.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): Tell Me When had a strong start but it stuttered for me toward the end. The last third became just too over the top for me and the added melodrama ended up making what was looking to be a B a C. Trigger warning: There is rape and torture referenced in the book. It is not “lovingly described” or anything but what Amber experienced was horrendous, with just about every awful thing you can think of happening to her. And then there was Marcus, who had his own traumatic background.
Why I read it: My blogger friends were tweeting how good this book is so I asked the author for a review copy and she very kindly said yes. (yay!)
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) The rules: no kissing on the mouth, no staying the night, no telling anyone, and above all… No falling in love.
Anna Jones just wants to finish college and figure out her life. Falling for star quarterback Drew Baylor is certainly not on her to do list. Confident and charming, he lives in the limelight and is way too gorgeous for his own good. If only she could ignore his heated stares and stop thinking about doing hot and dirty things with him. Easy right?
Too bad he’s committed to making her break every rule…
Football has been good to Drew. It’s given him recognition, two National Championships, and the Heisman. But what he really craves is sexy yet prickly Anna Jones. Her cutting humor and blatant disregard for his fame turns him on like nothing else. But there’s one problem: she’s shut him down. Completely.
That is until a chance encounter leads to the hottest sex of their lives, along with the possibility of something great. Unfortunately, Anna wants it to remain a hook up. Now it’s up to Drew to tempt her with more: more sex, more satisfaction, more time with him. Until she’s truly hooked. It’s a good thing Drew knows all about winning.
All’s fair in love and football…Game on.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I really liked this book. A lot. Sometimes when friends tell me they’re enjoying a book and I should get hold of it, I wonder if my expectations will have been built too high. I’m kind of afraid of over-selling the book for that reason. I don’t want people to get promo fatigue and miss out on a great book. Because it totally met and/or exceeded my expectations. I really loved it.
“Your voice isn’t noise. It’s a song I want to hear over and over.”
Why I read it: This was recommended by Jane from Dear Author so I bought it.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) The sport she loves is out of reach. The boy she loves has someone else.
What now?
She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.
Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league.
Also, he’s taken.
Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the “gimp ghetto” of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands.
They’re just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she’s falling. Hard.
But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won’t, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness — one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who’s afraid to love her back.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): Okay, this one grabbed me from the start and made me stay up too late last night finishing. I’d say it’s a fairly low conflict story even though each main protagonist has plenty of “shit to shovel”. Corey and Hartley become friends quickly and that friendship builds and grows over time. Corey basically falls in love with him but they are just friends because Hartley is taken. His extremely high maintenance girlfriend is studying abroad for a few months. So there is chemistry and some light flirtation which neither acknowledges as flirtation because he’s taken, and a very slow build to the romance.
I’m at AudioGals today with a review of The Pirate Prince by Gaelen Foley, narrated by Elizabeth Wiley. I read this one some years ago and it was kind of fun to revisit it on audio. Full of cheese though – so be ye warned. Aarrrr.
I’m over at AudioGals with a review of Kate Noble’s latest release, The Game and The Governess, narrated by Beverley A. Crick. Unfortunately, this one was not a success for me.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
