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Summer Rain anthology

July 4, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: This book of “novelettes” contains offerings by some of my favourite authors and proceeds go to a worthy cause. Which is a bonus but not why I bought it. (Does that make me a bad person?)

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) What happens when love gets caught in the rain?

In this romance anthology, RITA-Award winning author Molly O’Keefe shows us the power of a city thunderstorm from the top of a skyscraper, while Amy Jo Cousins soaks us in a rain in Spain. New York Times bestselling author Ruthie Knox’s heroine is devastated by a winter storm, while a summer thunderstorm grants Alexandra Haughton’s hero and heroine a second chance at love. Rain sparks self-awareness in the robot in Charlotte Stein’s story and allows Mary Ann Rivers’s heroine to fall in love with her hero and her own art. Rain causes romance between the college students in Audra North’s and Shari Slade’s stories, while romance causes rain in Cecilia Tan’s myth-inspired tale of a sacrifice to a demi-god. Nine romance novelettes, edited by Sarah Frantz.

All proceeds from the volume will be donated to the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (www.rainn.org), the largest anti-sexual violence organization in the United States.

Note: Some of the stories deal with issues of abuse, sexual and otherwise and/or violence. Some readers might find them triggering to read/read about.

Redemption by Ruthie Knox: There is a “Dear Reader” letter in the front of each of the novelettes. Ms. Knox says Redemption is a sad story. And it is. Both Jessie and Mike are sad. They’ve been beaten down by life and are just about at the end of their respective ropes. Unfortunately and partly because the story is short, I found the characterisation, especially in relation to Mike to be a little thin and I didn’t see what attracted him to her and from her side of things, what made him someone more than she wanted to have sex with. Because for a year, they didn’t talk and he didn’t smile and they didn’t share anything important apart from some good sex and in the end, I didn’t buy the commitment because I didn’t see enough of those things within the story itself. The writing has a kind of haunting melancholy quality to it and there were parts which we quite lovely. Short stories often work better for me when they are about people who already know each other. But this story seemed to take pains to tell me they didn’t know each other that well really so I was left a little unconvinced.

Review at Dear Author

July 3, 2014 / Kaetrin

I’m over at Dear Author with a review of The Red Bikini by Lauren Christopher. It’s a older woman-younger man story – something I’m getting a bit of weakness for as I get older! LOL.

I’m over at Dear Author

July 2, 2014 / Kaetrin

contributing to an m/m roundtable with Sunita, Sirius and Willaful. We talk about what we like and don’t like about m/m, how it’s different from (and the same as) m/f and make some recommendations (Hint: check the picture below for one of them). Please come say hi.

June Round Up

June 30, 2014 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

The Lumberfox by Ava Lovelace – B+ I picked this one up when it was free on promotion and for various reasons I was looking for something short to read so I opened it. Despite the title, it is not a shifter book. It is a quite delightful erotic short. It retails for 99c but I think it’s well worth the money. Geek girl Tara is out in what proves to be a blizzard buying her first vibrator. I was amused she christened her new toy Han Solo because, (wait for it):

“he was cocky and looked like he was going to shoot first.”

I’ve never even seen snow let alone been in a blizzard, but apparently what one does in such situations is leave one’s car on the road until the blizzard ends. When she is (gently) rear-ended by Ryon’s jeep, he gets out of his vehicle to exchange information with her and from there, in a mostly believable way, she ends up in Ryon’s apartment to wait out the blizzard – both of their cars as well as everyone else’s it seems, will wait on the road until the weather is better.

There is immediate chemistry between Tara and Ryon but consent issues are important to both and Ryon gives her a safeword – anytime she wants to call a halt, she only needs to say “Wookiee”. Little things like that Tara made Ryon call her mother and give her his driver’s license number for safety made it easy to relax into the story and the humour really worked for me. Ryon (let’s get this over with – his name annoyed me. Why not just Ryan? I was calling him Ry-ONN in my head the whole book. It was irritating.)… anyway, Ryon is a baker and brewer and has the fortunate surname of Brubaker so I guess his course was set from birth (heh) – he makes a wonderful dinner for Tara and they also share slow hot sex and fast hot sex (in an elevator no less) and in between they talk to each other and find out they have a lot in common – and not just science fiction love. In fact, Ryon shows himself to be both a tender, respectful and inventive lover who is not afraid to get an assist from Han Solo.

All Fired Up by Vivian Arend and Elle Kennedy

June 28, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I enjoy books by both authors and the premise sounded fun, so I bought it.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) He’s ready to lead the way

Parker Wilson never thought he’d go from battle-hardened soldier to romance expert, but after his stint in the Rangers, that’s exactly what happened. As the owner of DreamMakers Inc., he helps other men win in the love department, using every resource available to plan the perfect date. When a routine recon turns into an unexpected night of passion, Parker’s mission becomes more personal—and he won’t give up until Lynn Davidson is all his.

She’s more than willing to follow

Lynn is a goner from the moment she lays eyes on the delectable Parker. She’s just ditched her boring almost-boyfriend and is tired of sticking to the straight and narrow. It’s time to walk on the wild side, and what better way than in the arms of the most irresistible man she’s ever met? But when their red-hot affair is threatened, it’ll take a team effort to make their dreams come true.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I’d read a couple of heavy-ish books immediately before this one and both had been less than successful for me, albeit for different reasons. I wanted something light and frothy. Something fun where I didn’t have to think too much, to be a kind of palate cleanser.

All Fired Up was actually just what I was looking for. The premise is a little over the top – three ex-Army Rangers open a business “DreamMakers” which organises dream dates for the clueless (largely male) in the San Francisco area. They’re not a dating agency or a matchmaking service – but if a dude forgets his anniversary and needs to make it up to his upset wife, DreamMakers is the go to place to get help. Exactly why Parker, Jack and Dean chose this particular business was never very clear to me. That there was a need didn’t quite cut it. However, what I was really wanting to read about was the romance between Parker and Lynn and the book was a lot of fun when this was the focus.

Review at AudioGals

June 27, 2014 / Kaetrin

My review of Destiny’s Tarot by Thea Harrison, narrated by Sophie Eastlake is up at AudioGals today. I really enjoy this series on audio and it’s nice to be able to get the novellas in that format with the same narrator.