Tag: NetGalley (Page 27 of 37)

Running Back by Allison Parr

October 28, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley. I enjoyed the first book in the series, Rush Me, so I was looking forward to what’s next.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Natalie Sullivan is on the verge of a breakthrough most archaeology grad students only dream of: discovering a lost city. Her research points to a farm in Ireland, but to excavate she needs permission from the new owner: the Michael O’Connor, popular NFL running back.

On TV Mike seems so charming and good-natured that Natalie figures getting his cooperation will be a breeze. So she’s not prepared to deal with the arrogant—and adamantly opposed—man she meets in person. Or the way one look from him sends shivers down her spine…

Determined to kick-start her career, Natalie travels across the Atlantic and finds herself sharing an inn with Mike, who has come to Ireland in search of his roots. She tells herself her interest is strictly professional, but the more she gets to know him, the harder it is to deny her personal attraction to the sexy sports star. And when Mike confides why he refuses to allow the dig, Natalie must decide if she can follow her heart without losing sight of her dreams.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I enjoy this author’s voice. I like her wry humor and the easy style of the prose. I find it engaging and easy to read, even when sometimes aspects of the plot work less well for me. Here, I particularly enjoyed the romance between Natalie and Mike, as well as the descriptions of New York, Ireland and Paris. The setting, most particularly, Ireland, was so well drawn. Whereas some stories can really be set anywhere, here the sense of place was very strong. And different enough to provide a nice change to the usual US setting. Although it is a book about a running back for the fictional New York Leopards NFL team, there is almost no football in it (which wasn’t particularly a problem, but if you’re expecting a sports-themed book, you won’t get it here). Rather, it has an archeology theme – digging up the past in not only the physical but also the metaphysical sense.

Everything You Need To Know by HelenKay Dimon

October 16, 2013 / Kaetrin

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

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Welcome to Need to Know—Because a Woman Can’t Be Too Informed

Dating in D.C. is like navigating an apocalyptic wasteland populated by men in expensive suits with zero mating potential. Need to Know provides all the information a savvy single woman like you needs to avoid dating disasters.

By night, Jordan McAdam is the proprietor of a popular website that rates D.C.’s hottest bachelors—everything from how quick they are email you back to their skills in the sack. She’s been burned once too often to accept any man at face value. By day, her job as an office temp puts her in the perfect position to do a little fact checking on her rich and powerful subjects. When her latest assignment brings her face to face with the sexy but mysterious Forest Redder, Jordan decides to do a little “hands on” research of her own. To Jordan, he seems like the perfect man – but she knows there is no such thing. Moreover, there’s a big problem: Forest knows Jordan’s the woman behind the scandalous site—and Jordan knows he knows. Will he expose her secret—or find his own posted on Need to Know?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Like my other Cosmo Red Hot Read, this one surprised me because it had more story and the sex, while steamy, wasn’t something which occurred immediately. A relationship (a fast one but a relationship nonetheless) was developed prior to the couple getting physical. (That’s not to say there’s necessarily anything wrong with a story which starts with a bang (or even a real life encounter) but merely, it’s not what my mind went to when I saw the label “Cosmo Red Hot Read”. Perhaps that says something about me.

Come As You Are by Theresa Weir

October 9, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received a copy for review via NetGalley.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Molly Young has a secret. To keep it she holds the world at a distance. Behind her lies a trail of dumped boyfriends who came too close to discovering what no one can know. When her estranged father dies of an unexpected heart attack he leaves an even deeper secret, one tied to Molly’s.

At the funeral repast Molly is unable to tolerate the shoulder-to-shoulder mourners and runs out the door and down the street to the nearest bar. Come dawn, with no memory of the past ten hours, she finds herself in bed with a beautiful stranger. She slips away before he wakes up, unaware of the role he’s about to play in her life. Is he the one guy who can convince Molly to face her painful secret and become the person she’s meant to be?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I’m not sure how helpful this review will be to anyone because it’s been days since I read the book and I still don’t quite know what to make of it. Even describing the story seems spoilerish but I can’t work out another way to do it. So, with the warning that there may be spoilers (I can’t tell if they count as spoilers or not), let’s proceed.

Cake by Lauren Dane

September 13, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’d heard good things about this novella, which is part of the Cosmo Red Hot Reads line from Harlequin, launched this month so I requested a review copy via NetGalley. Cake releases on September 15 but is available for pre-order now.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) She won’t be satisfied with just one bite…

Art student-slash-bike messenger Wren Davis pursues what she wants. And what she wants now is Gregori Ivanov, rock star of the Seattle art scene. With his tattoos, piercings and sensual sneer, Gregori is the ultimate bad boy. Wren’s gotten to know the man beneath the body art, too—and it only makes her crave him more.

But Gregori loves women like he loves cake and champagne—intensely, but only for the moment. And after Wren experiences just how scorching sex with Gregori is, she’s determined to show him that just one taste won’t be enough…

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I must admit that this book had a lot more story than I was expecting. This probably says something about me more than anything, but I was kind of expecting to jump straight to the sex and for there to be not much characterisation. Something about it being a “Red-Hot Read” perhaps? I’m happy to say I was wrong. There is a story and the pair don’t just jump into bed. There’s sexual tension and flirting but the reader is given a chance to get to know the characters a bit before there is any horizontal tango-ing. There are some books which jump straight to the sex and that can work fine for me – and, it is to be noted that I requested this book even with those expectations. The story is short – about 87 pages so there isn’t a lot of time for huge backstory and character development but I thought the author used the page count cleverly to introduce two characters to me and make me believe their happy ending.

Stay With Me by Elyssa Patrick

August 31, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received a review copy from the author via NetGalley. It had a rock star heroine and it’s in the New Adult genre which I like. I say I don’t get books because of their covers but I’ve come to realise that’s not entirely true. I won’t make a final decision based on a cover, but there are plenty of times when I click to find out more because of an eye-catching cover design and this is one of those examples. The cover is gorgeous.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) With one look, I’m his . . .

With one touch, he’s mine . . .

With one kiss, it changes everything between us . . .

I’ve been famous since I can remember. Singing, acting, dancing—I’ve done it all. The tabloids cover my every move, but I don’t want that anymore. I want to be normal, whatever that is.

When I leave Hollywood for college in Vermont, I’m on my own for the first time in my life. This is my chance to figure out who I am and what I want in life.

But it’s a lot harder than I expected. I can’t escape my image. Classes are difficult, and I’m struggling. And then there’s Caleb Fox.

Sexy, intriguing Caleb Fox.

Caleb is the one man who doesn’t want to use me. He breaks down my walls. He challenges me. He wants me. And I just don’t know if I can give him the same—or if he’ll stick around when he finds out my shameful secret that the tabloids haven’t managed to uncover.

Dating him is risky enough, but loving him could break me.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I found this story a bit of a mixed bag. There were parts where I was immersed and enraptured but other parts which felt a little flat to me. As much as I thought Caleb was wonderful, he was so perfect that the romance lacked tension. Caleb is gorgeous, smart, faithful, honest, funny and awesome in bed. He has good friends, a great family, a career plan, talent – really, what’s not to love about him? Hailey on the other hand, is a bit of a mess. She has been managed by her mother who is the ultimate awful “stage-mom” – manipulated into roles she didn’t really want, relationships she didn’t really want and increasingly, into a career she didn’t really want, Hailey has made a break. She has quit acting, singing and dancing and is going to college. She doesn’t know exactly what she wants to do yet, other than be “normal” (or, as normal as it is possible to be given how rich and famous she is). She plans to spend her first year of college finding herself and I think the book succeeds very well here. It skirts the line so that Hailey stays on the right side of “poor little rich girl”. She isn’t unaware of her privilege and doesn’t whinge. She does read older than her 18 years, but I think this is explained by her history – she’s worked professionally since she was a small child (even as a baby she was the face of Gerber). When she struggles in school, she takes it on the chin and doesn’t whine about it. She goes and gets some tutoring, works hard and does better. Yay!

Glitterland by Alexis Hall

August 24, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley. I’m also friendly with Sarah Frantz and the author on Twitter (although those relationships made me want to read the book, they didn’t affect my opinion of it).

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) The universe is a glitterball I hold in the palm of my hand.

Once the golden boy of the English literary scene, now a clinically depressed writer of pulp crime fiction, Ash Winters has given up on love, hope, happiness, and—most of all—himself. He lives his life between the cycles of his illness, haunted by the ghosts of other people’s expectations.

Then a chance encounter at a stag party throws him into the arms of Essex boy Darian Taylor, an aspiring model who lives in a world of hair gel, fake tans, and fashion shows. By his own admission, Darian isn’t the crispest lettuce in the fridge, but he cooks a mean cottage pie and makes Ash laugh, reminding him of what it’s like to step beyond the boundaries of anxiety.

But Ash has been living in his own shadow for so long that he can’t see past the glitter to the light. Can a man who doesn’t trust himself ever trust in happiness? And how can a man who doesn’t believe in happiness ever fight for his own?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Sometimes, what seems on the surface to be the strangest pairing, is not so strange at all when you really look at it. Ash is bipolar type 1, with an anxiety disorder on top of it. He is a successful author, well off financially and fond of bespoke suits. He is cynical, sharp, articulate, intelligent and, let’s face it, a bit of a snob. He is also… passive. He feels like his life is basically over, his mental illness having robbed him of the life he thought he would have.

Darian, on the other hand, is almost exactly the opposite. He’s an Essex boy who does a bit of “moddlin’” – think Zoolander meets The Only Way is Essex (which, for the US audience, is a British Jersey Shore). That is; exactly the kind of person the reality TV watching audience loves to watch in order to feel superior (sometimes, this has been me). At first, Darian seems like bit of a joke character – his complexion is unashamedly orange from his fake tan, he’s (apparently) not too bright, and has a broad accent which many would perceive as a further reducing his already average IQ. He’s the unsophisticated opposite of Ash. I wondered if Ash would accept him as a romantic hero? I wondered whether I would.