Tag: NetGalley (Page 31 of 37)

Once a Brat by Kim Dare

March 11, 2013 / Kaetrin

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

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Experienced dominant Marcus has a stalker. On the plus side, the boy following him around his local leather club is gorgeous and a self-professed submissive. Unfortunately, he’s also inexperienced, bratty, and liable to drive Marcus insane within his incessant chatter and questions.Bret Daniels fell head over heels with Marcus the moment he first saw him. He’s willing to do whatever it takes to get Marcus’s attention and prove his worth as a submissive. He might not be a traditional sub, but he knows he has a lot to offer a dom who can handle his quirks.When Marcus gives in and agrees to do a scene with Bret, sparks fly. One scene quickly becomes another, and another. But will it be a case of once a brat, always a brat? Bret intends to prove to Marcus that—expectations and experiences aside—he deserves his master’s collar.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): The blurb gives fair warning there is insta-love from Bret to Marcus and insta-love is not my favourite thing. I like to read romance for the courtship and the emotional connection. In some books, there can be instant feelings but there is still time and interaction for the feelings to develop and to sell them to me as the reader. The problem for me with this book was that the interaction was almost all sexual and, while the scenes were very hot and well written, there wasn’t much interaction outside of that. Bret and Marcus didn’t have much by way of conversation. I didn’t see them falling in love, at least not Marcus falling for Bret. I was told it happened by didn’t see why. There was certainly a sexual connection but that is a very different thing IMO. I knew that Marcus generally avoided relationships but I didn’t know why. And, when he decided to break that rule for Bret, other than the sub’s persistence, I also didn’t see why.

Uses for Boys by Erica Lorraine Scheidt

March 6, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I picked up a review copy at NetGalley.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads): Anna remembers a time before boys, when she was little and everything made sense. When she and her mom were a family, just the two of them against the world. But now her mom is gone most of the time, chasing the next marriage, bringing home the next stepfather. Anna is left on her own—until she discovers that she can make boys her family. From Desmond to Joey, Todd to Sam, Anna learns that if you give boys what they want, you can get what you need. But the price is high—the other kids make fun of her; the girls call her a slut. Anna’s new friend, Toy, seems to have found a way around the loneliness, but Toy has her own secrets that even Anna can’t know.

Then comes Sam. When Anna actually meets a boy who is more than just useful, whose family eats dinner together, laughs, and tells stories, the truth about love becomes clear. And she finally learns how it feels to have something to lose—and something to offer. Real, shocking, uplifting, and stunningly lyrical, Uses for Boys isa story of breaking down and growing up.

Warning: There is a sexual assault in the story – it isn’t violent but if you have triggers, beware.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I would categorise this as YA rather than romance, although there is a romantic thread near the end and there is a hopeful ending, the book is more about Anna’s journey, so don’t expect the traditional romance arc. (For example, the “hero”, Sam, doesn’t show up until around the 2/3 mark of the book.) The story is told from Anna’s first person POV and I wasn’t quite sure how reliable she was as narrator – at least in relation to her relationship with her mother. Perhaps it is that I don’t want to belief that her mother could be that self-absorbed and selfish. Perhaps it is that there is some inconsistency with how Anna’s mother acts toward the end of the book and what Anna tells the reader about her at the start.

Priceless and Fearless by Cat Grant

February 26, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read them: I received ARCs via NetGalley.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) “When love’s for sale, who really pays?”Connor Morrison is a 3-D optics pioneer, the star of the UC Berkeley physics department, and a socially inept workaholic. And with his dear friend and business partner, Steve Campbell, handling their investors, he’s content to remain in the shadows. That is, until he meets the gorgeous and starry-eyed physics student Wes Martin.Wes is brilliant but broke. Ever since his scholarship fell victim to the financial crisis, he’s had no choice but to sell his body to stay in school. Already half in love with Connor, Wes initially resists Steve’s offer to be Connor’s thirty-fifth birthday present. But in the end, Wes is too broke–and too smitten–to say no.Connor has no idea Steve bought Wes’s attentions, and he quickly falls under the young man’s spell. Yet after one night together, Wes disappears. He can’t bear to hook with a man he could so easily grow to love, but he also can’t bear to tell him the truth. Besides, if he sleeps with Connor again, there’d be no way to hide the bruises one of his regular johns loves to inflict. Only one thing to do: let Connor go. Walking away is painful, but not nearly as much as building a relationship on lies.

Warning: Some non consensual sexual activity – by a client of Wes’s (not Connor).

What worked for me (and what didn’t): This story was part of Riptide Rentboys: The 2012 Collection. I had only read the Anne Brook novella, Where You Hurt The Most but went back and pulled this one up after reading the blurb for Fearless

Dirty Laundry by Heidi Cullinan

February 18, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I picked up a copy from NetGalley.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) The course of true love doesn’t always run clean. But sometimes getting dirty is half the fun.Entomology grad student Adam Ellery meets Denver Rogers, a muscle-bound hunk of sexy, when Denver effortlessly dispatches the drunken frat boys harassing Adam at the Tucker Springs laundromat. Thanking him turns into flirting, and then, much to Adam’s delight, hot sex over the laundry table.Though Denver’s job as a bouncer at a gay bar means he gets his pick of geek-sexy college twinks, he can’t get Adam out of his head. Adam seems to need the same rough play Denver does, and it’s damn hard to say no to such a perfect fit.Trouble is, Adam isn’t just shy: he has obsessive compulsive disorder and clinical anxiety, conditions which have ruined past relationships. And while Denver might be able to bench-press a pile of grad students, he comes from a history of abuse and is terrified of getting his GED. Neither Denver nor Adam want to face their dirty laundry, but to stay together, they’re going to have to come clean.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Ever have the experience of slowing down and re-reading paragraphs as you come to the end of a book just so you can make it last longer? That’s what I did with Dirty Laundry. It was sooooo good. I did not want it to end.

All He Ever Desired by Shannon Stacey

January 30, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: All He Ever Dreamed just came out (I bought it straight away) and I realised I hadn’t got to this one yet. I do like to read in order, y’all.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) A second shot at first loveAfter college, Ryan Kowalski decided to leave Whitford, Maine, rather than watch Lauren Carpenter marry another man. Now his siblings need his help to refurbish the family-owned Northern Star Lodge and he’s forced to face the past sooner rather than later when he collars a vandal—and learns the boy is Lauren’s son…

The last person Lauren needs back in her life is Ryan Kowalski. With a bitter ex-husband and a moody teenage son, she has enough man trouble already. But her son needs to learn a few lessons about right and wrong, even if Lauren has to escort him to Ryan’s door every day to work off his crime.

With all this close contact, Ryan and Lauren can’t deny the chemistry between them is as powerful as ever. But can a few searing kisses erase their past and pave the way for a second chance at true love?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I love the Kowalskis. From the very first line in the book I was kicking myself for taking so long to read it.

Because hectic Monday mornings didn’t suck enough all on their own merits, Lauren Carpenter managed to miss her lashes and apply mascara straight to her eyeball.

I knew it was going to be good. Then, a couple of pages later, Ryan arrives on scene:

Ryan Kowalski made very few mistakes when it came to running his business, but trapping himself in a pickup with an idiot definitely counted as one.

Blessed Isle by Alex Beecroft

January 29, 2013 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I picked this one up from NetGalley – I enjoyed Shining in the Sun (my review is here but you’ll have to scroll down a bit) and have False Colours on my TBR (… must get to it…).

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) For Captain Harry Thompson, the command of the prison transport ship HMS Banshee is his opportunity to prove his worth, working-class origins be damned. But his criminal attraction to his upper-crust First Lieutenant, Garnet Littleton, threatens to overturn all he’s ever worked for.Lust quickly proves to be the least of his problems, however. The deadly combination of typhus, rioting convicts, and a monstrous storm destroys his prospects . . . and shipwrecks him and Garnet on their own private island. After months of solitary paradise, the journey back to civilization—surviving mutineers, exposure, and desertion—is the ultimate test of their feelings for each other.These two very different men each record their story for an unfathomable future in which the tale of their love—a love punishable by death in their own time—can finally be told. Today, dear reader, it is at last safe for you to hear it all.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I don’t think I can adequately express how beautifully written this book is. So I shall give you some examples of what I mean: