I’m at Dear Author today with a short piece about the substitutability of books. I’m sure opinions will vary wildly. Come and tell me what you think.
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I’m over at AudioGals with a review of Sea of Love by Susan Donovan, narrated by Amy McFadden. The hero was a bit of a douchebag but the writing and the narration combined to win me over in the end.
Why I read it: I was provided with a review copy by the author via NetGalley
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Pia and Dragos’s magical young son Liam (the Peanut), is growing at an unprecedented rate, and if that isn’t enough, he is also exhibiting new, and unpredictable, magical gifts. To protect him, the concerned parents decide to move to upstate New York.
Both Dragos and Pia relish the idea of leaving behind the city. They finally have the space to indulge their Wyr side, and Liam can grow in safety. It’s a breath of fresh air—literally—but their idyllic situation is shattered when Dragos is injured in a freak accident.
Stripped of his memory and bereft of Pia’s taming influence, there’s nothing holding back Dragos’s darkest side. And in order to restore her family and save her mate, Pia must confront the most powerful menace in Elder Races history.
It’s going to take more than a penny to fix this…
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I like revisiting favourite heroes and heroines and seeing how their happy ever after is progressing but what is even more special is when we get to see them fall in love all over again. I don’t think it’s too spoilery to say that’s what happens after Dragos loses his memory in an accident. Pia has to fight for him first though – he is hurt and confused and he doesn’t remember anything about their life together and who they are to each other (and it is a joy to see the heroine doing the rescuing too I must say).
I’m over at Dear Author with a review of More Than Music by Elizabeth Briggs. It’s a New Adult book with a rock-star-in-the-making-hero, a classically trained musician heroine, against the backdrop of a reality TV show. I could not pass it up when I saw it on NetGalley.
I’m at AudioGals today with a review of Shadows on the Nile by Kate Furnivall, narrated by Alison Larkin. It’s one I read last year but it’s a long review so it took my editor there a while to work her way up to it. 😀 I talk about how I’m bad at mysteries, a little about colonialism and ableism and, how some things work better on audio and some things don’t.
Why I read it: I saw some buzz about this one in my Goodreads timeline so I bought it.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Matt Sullivan understands labels: law student, athlete, heterosexual. He has goals: graduate and begin his career in law. One fateful night, Matt tags along with his gay roommate to a dance club and everything changes. Matt finds himself attracted to the most beautiful man he’s ever seen. All labels go flying out the window.
Aaron Mendez doesn’t believe in labels, and he’s leery of straight curious men. He makes it clear that he’ll hide his fabulous light for no one. While Aaron can’t deny the attraction between him and Matt, he is reluctant to start anything with someone who is still dealing with what this new label means—especially when that someone has a girlfriend.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I enjoy a good Out-For-You story. I liked that here, Matt acknowledges that he’s always been attracted to men and women but it was just easier to go with the flow and date women. Until he met Aaron, the risk/reward ratio was such that he was happy to date only women and stay in the bi-closet. That’s kind of my catnip actually – someone you care about enough to take risks for. I had mixed feelings about the book however. I can’t say that I liked the writing style. It felt choppy and pedestrian to me most of the time but I was engaged enough by the story that I found myself keeping on reading anyway.