with an audiobook review of The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion, narrated by Dan O’Grady. I loved it.
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Why I read it: Mandi from Smexy Books recommended this one so I bought it.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Austin Huntley and Cameron Nash are like night and day. One is a family man, works in a nice office, drives an expensive car, and is content to be content. The other one is an antisocial car mechanic with a short fuse.
Some things don’t change. Others definitely do.
After surviving a five-months long kidnapping together, they struggle to return to normalcy, all while realizing that they’re more drawn to each other than they ever could’ve imagined.
“I know I’m not normal, but I’m not fucking stupid.”
“Define normal,” Austin countered quietly, meeting Cam in the doorway. “And for not being normal, you’re the only person in the world who makes sense right now. What does that say about me?”
What worked for me (and what didn’t): I had been warned that the kidnapping and torture to which the men were subjected weren’t pretty – they weren’t but they also weren’t as bad as the average episode of Criminal Minds either. Spending five months locked in a cell together with little light, little food and water and no answers, with the occasional violent beating thrown in is sure to have a profound effect on a person. Austin and Cam had a shared experience which made them very different men. I didn’t have any trouble believing they would become close and, even the development of their sexual feelings toward one another seemed to grow organically out of it. I had expected a bit of an angst-fest, but it wasn’t really that. There were parts of the book which I enjoyed very much but other parts with bothered me.
with an audiobook review of Did You Miss Me by Karen Rose. Not my favourite of her books. See why here.
with a review of Striking Distance by Pamela Clare. See why I recommend it here.
Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Adrian Blackstone built a million-dollar business with hard work and determination—and by remaining professional at all times. Denying his longtime attraction to his beautiful executive assistant hasn’t been easy but it’s necessary. She’s indispensable, and he can’t stand the thought of losing her if things didn’t work out.
For more than a year, Rachel Carter has been quietly dreaming of all the ways she’ll never seduce her sexy, buttoned-up boss. She’s worked too hard to get where she is to cross that line, no matter how badly she’d like to act on her fantasies. But then a wicked snowstorm leaves them stranded in a romantic winter wonderland…
What begins as a single kiss and a few bad Santa jokes turns into a weekend full of breathless passion and hopes for something more. But with Monday comes a return to their complicated reality—and Adrian must prove that promises made are promises kept, especially at Christmastime.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): This fairly short novella starts with the trademark easy style I’ve come to expect from Shannon Stacey’s contemporaries. The set up of a CEO and his executive assistant each having the hots for one another but afraid to do anything about because of the potential damage to their professional relationship (which each values very highly) was believable and I could see how eventually the sexual tension was going to have to be resolved somehow. Snowed in in a romantic resort seemed the perfect place. There was certainly a lot of chemistry as the steamy scenes demonstrated. But they also liked each other, and that was clear too.
on Paper/eBook
**NB This review first appeared in the ARRA members newsletter in October 2014**
In Another Life by EE Montgomery is a very short story but it covers a lot of ground. It’s a very stylised work, with glimpses of the main characters for short periods every eight years. It begins with Eli and Mike at 24, living together and just at the start of their careers. Because each of them is so busy, their relationship suffers and the story starts when Mike leaves and Eli is devastated. Fast forward eight years and they encounter one another again but Eli lets Mike believe he is with someone else. There is still attraction but also (especially from Eli) great pain. A further eight years pass and Mike finds Eli drinking heavily (in celebration over a friend’s good health news) and takes him home and looks after him (yes Kat, this is a vomit book). There is a strong connection between the characters but the story is so short it doesn’t have much chance to develop. We cover 24 years in about 20 pages. Eli and Mike have never stopped loving each other it seems, but there is a lot of hurt and baggage to be dealt with before they can have their HEA. For me, I think I would have appreciated the story more if I had been able to spend more time with the characters. As it was, I did feel their connection and Mike’s guilt for the decision he regrets and the pain it caused Eli. I enjoyed the secondary characters of Quinn and Jerry as well. The story was a quick read and in a very short time the author captured my interest. I wished it were longer.
Coming Soon
In November, I’ll have reviews of Crash Into You by Katie McGarry and Northern Star by Ethan Day and more.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
