Tag: NetGalley (Page 35 of 37)

Power Play by Rachel Haimowitz & Cat Grant

September 7, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: My very first foray into m/m romance was with Anah Crowe’s Uneven, a book recommended by Sarah Frantz, former Dear Author reviewer (and, as it happens, current Riptide Publishing editor who, I understand, had a hand in editing either the second or both of the Power Play books). Uneven was a book which didn’t work for me that well, because I didn’t “get” BDSM and especially the pain side of things. Plus, there was blood. One MC kept hitting the other and making him bleed and I just didn’t understand why that would be fun for anyone. Since then, I’ve read a bit more and have learned a little more about it, although I can’t say that I’m any kind of expert or that I really understand it. Still, I’m a curious and adventurous reader. I heard that this book/series “explained” BDSM in a way that made it accessible without being boring. I downloaded it (as well as Power Play: Awakening) from NetGalley but I’ll admit it took me a while to be brave enough to open it, especially after reading the advisory:

Reader discretion advised. This title contains heavy kink. While consent is clearly established and frequently reaffirmed, some moments in Power Play push hard against the outer edges of consent.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Give me six months, and I’ll give you the world.

Brandon McKinney has scraped and sacrificed for what little in life he’s ever had. Though it’s been fifteen years since he escaped his father’s abuse, the damage remains. Trust seems as far out of reach as his dream of becoming an architect, and though he’s come to accept being gay, he can’t deny the shame and confusion he feels at other urges–the deeply repressed desire to submit.

Jonathan Watkins is a self-made Silicon Valley billionaire whose ex-wife took half his money and even more of his faith. Comfortable as a Dominant but wary of being hurt again, he resorts to anonymous pickups and occasional six-month contracts with subs seeking only a master, not a lover.

When a sizzling back-alley encounter cues Jonathan in to Brandon’s deep-seated submissive side, he makes the man an offer: Give me six months of your life, and I’ll open your eyes to a whole new world. Brandon doesn’t care about that; all he wants is the three million dollars Jonathan’s offering so he can buy the construction company he works for. But he soon learns that six months on his knees is no easy feat, and shame and pride may keep him from all he ever wanted-and all he never dreamed he had any right to have.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Well, my “innocent” eyes were certainly confronted by some of the pain play in this book. I can’t say that I honestly understand why anyone would consent to having a taser to their intimate parts (makes my eyes tear just thinking about it) but, it was clear that Bran’s consent was present at all times. Jonathan and Bran agree on rules at the outset and Jonathan sticks to them. He responds immediately to Bran’s use of safewords and always makes sure he has the ability to “say” it – sometimes by use of a panic button or a red bandanna if he’s gagged.

Even though they set up the rules, it becomes clear over the course of the story, that Bran really didn’t know what he was getting into – yes he consents but he doesn’t understand at all the reasoning behind the actions Jonathan is taking. And, it’s clear (particularly at the beginning of the second book) that Jonathan realises that his initial approach was in error.

The writing is smooth and compelling – even when I was reading about things which made me uncomfortable as a reader, the story flowed so well and the characters were so interesting that I found the book very difficult to put down. And, it wasn’t the voyeuristic horror of a car wreck which made me not want to look away either. I surprised myself actually that I didn’t look upon it like that at all. I was still querying why? at the end of the book, but I didn’t feel that Jonathan crossed into villain/serial torturer territory. The parts of the book from his perspective, particularly toward the end, made it clear that he wasn’t getting much out of it because of Bran’s resistance and was using the more severe punishment as a way to make Bran give up and leave – to put them both out of their misery. Because, despite Bran’s resistance to what Jonathan is trying to do (and again, I can’t say I was anymore clued in on this than Bran), he will not quit. This idea of resisted consent intrigued me. The things Jonathan required of Bran were things he almost universally resisted – he wasn’t happy about kneeling naked on a cushion and keeping still for long stretches, being hand-fed, he wasn’t happy about daily enemas (Twitter tells me this could lead to lazy bowel so I did worry for Bran a little on this), he certainly wasn’t happy about being beaten, slapped or whipped. But, he did consent. He had the ability to make it all stop on a word (or a gesture if he was gagged) and he was free to leave at any time. And, I don’t think staying had as much to do with the $3 million as Bran perhaps thought. It seemed more about pride, a “you WILL NOT break me” kind of thing.

Of course, everyone has their breaking point.

One character I did not like was the housekeeper Sabrina. I didn’t really understand why she had so much power and authority over Bran. Jonathon I could understand (if I squinted a little) but Sabrina? No, And, I didn’t like her smugness about it either. It’s quite possible that there is something (else) about this total power exchange business that I’m missing when it comes to other people however.

What else? I started reading Awakening as soon as I finished Resistance. Awakening is a complete story with a distinct beginning, middle and end, but it is not their complete story. At the beginning of Awakening, Brandon tells Jonathan that he broke him and now he has to fix him and I felt the same way in my reading experience. Resistance is all about breaking down and Awakening (I hope) is about the rebuilding. I really don’t feel you can read one without the other and so I decided that the reviews had to be concurrent also.

I don’t expect that I will ever completely understand BDSM and I don’t think it’s for me outside of fiction but right now (and as I’m writing this, I am only a couple of chapters into the second book) I do feel like I just might be able to “get” it in a way I never have before, or at least almost – like something which is on the tip of your tongue. Also, now I think I need to read Master Class.

I couldn’t grade Resistance until after I finished Awakening either. For me, they are 2 essential halves with how much I enjoyed this book ultimately depending on what happens at the end of their story. (You might want to not give that last too much thought, as it doesn’t make a great deal of sense. Just go with it).

Grade: B

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Brandon McKinney is a man reborn. Newly awakened to the notion of consensual power exchange and the submissive urges inside him, he begs for a second chance from the man who opened his eyes to this world: Silicon Valley superstar Jonathan Watkins. But no birth is absent pain, and Brandon’s is no exception. He fears he’s not strong enough to see it through.

Jonathan knows better. He’s seen the iron core inside his new submissive, and the wounded heart inside him too. He means to teach Brandon to heal the one with the other. They have five months left on their contract, after all, and Jonathan has done more with less before.

It’s tough to stay objective, though, when you’re falling in love. Shame Brandon doesn’t feel the same. He’s only there for the three-million-dollar payout at contract’s end—a fact that Jonathan, nursing his own wounded heart, reminds himself of each day. For even as Brandon’s barriers break and his mind expands, even as he grows to love his place at Jonathan’s feet, he’ll never love life with a sadist—especially one who cannot escape the public eye.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): There is something about these characters which compels me. I can’t say that it’s the power exchange, although that may be part of it. I really think that is more of an adjunct than the reason however. I find myself thinking about them, pondering the how and the why like I do with any book whose characters blow me away. Even when they are confronting me, I want to spend more time with them.

This book is more about Jonathan and Bran’s emotional relationship than Resistance and the emphasis isn’t so much on the S/M part of proceedings, although there is some of that (clothes pegs – ouch!). The focus is much more on Bran’s growing ease and peace and acceptance – of himself and of what he shares with Jonathan.

Ultimately, I felt Awakening was somewhat less satisfying than the promise of the first book – while I preferred the emphasis on the emotional side of things in this book, the ending felt a little underdone to me and somewhere along the way, I lost my tenuous grasp on the “why” of it all. It’s quite possible (even probable) that I’ll never “get” it and certainly, these 2 books had me closer to understanding than I had been before, so there is that.

I understood that Bran found a great deal of peace and freedom in his relationship with Jonathan but I would have liked a little more of the how of their relationship once Bran has resumed his life outside of their one-on-one relationship. I think I fell down a little there in my understanding of how it all works.

There were a couple of things about which I was left curious by the end and, because I’m the type of reader who does like things tied up in a neat bow, I found myself niggled by the questions. For example, what happened with the swear jar? Was it re-set to 0 or did Bran take his punishment?

I also wondered whether Jonathan understood that Bran’s reaction to Solange was jealousy and if so, what he thought of it. That wasn’t addressed in the story and I would have liked to have known. It is apparent that Jonathan is bisexual – he was married to Susan for 5 years and he says he still has feelings of love for her; he obviously had some kind of sexual relationship with Solange. But he also said that when he was quite young, he realised that he preferred men. I wondered if Bran ever worried about this. If he did, it wasn’t mentioned in the story.

The biggest thing which felt somewhat undeveloped to me, was that Jonathan comes to the overt realisation about halfway through this book, that he and Bran are not compatible sexually – Bran is NOT a masochist – he does NOT like pain. Jonathan IS a sadist. He DOES like (other people’s) pain. He reflects that they cannot be for each other what each other needs. Obviously, he changes his mind and I admit I wanted him to do so, but I did not see enough of the how of that change in the text.

What else? I am glad I read these 2 books. I liked Jonathan and Bran and I enjoyed reading about their emotional journey, even though some of the physical aspects of the trip had me squinting my eyes a bit. I would happily have stayed in their world and learned more about them and how they manage their lives together. I enjoyed the writing style and the characters and – while I can’t say I “get” BDSM completely, if there is a continuum, then I think I have moved along it. The books took me outside my comfort zone in some ways but ultimately, at its heart, the story of Jonathan and Bran is a romance – a story of love, acceptance, courage and faith. If only there had’ve been a little more closure…. but perhaps it is a story I will re-read and perhaps in doing so, there will be gleanings I missed the first time around. I certainly hope to meet up with these characters again in the future.

Grade: B

Even though I found Awakening a little less satisfying than Resistance in some ways (but not in others – Awakening was definitely the more “romantic” of the two), I ended up with the same grade for both – the stories are so interdependent on one another, I felt I needed to grade Power Play as a whole.

Forever and A Day by Jill Shalvis

August 16, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I picked this up from NetGalley. I’m a fan of Shalvis and Lucky Harbor.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) LOVE CAN HAPPEN IN A HEARTBEAT.

Grace never thought she’d be starting her life over from scratch. Losing everything has landed her in Lucky Harbor, working as a dog walker for overwhelmed ER doctor Josh Scott. But the day his nanny fails to show up, Grace goes from caring for Josh’s loveable mutt to caring for his rambunctious kids. Soon Grace is playing house with the sexy single dad…

With so many people depending on him, Josh has no time for anything outside of his clinic and family–until Grace arrives in town. Now this brainy blonde is turning his life inside out and giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “good bedside manner.” Josh and Grace don’t know if what they have can last. But in a town like Lucky Harbor, a lifetime of love starts with just one day…

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Looking back over this latest three books, I think that At Last was my favourite. I enjoyed Forever and a Day but some things about Grace bothered me too much for me to really like her. And Josh was not a good dad or brother for most of the book. His priority was clearly his patients and his family was suffering. There are other doctors but only one Toby’s dad and Anna’s brother.

Grace first: I thought Grace got away with some pretty arrogant behaviour which Josh barely called her on. And when he did, he ended up apologising for it. Grace has no experience with dogs or children or siblings, but almost from day 1 she is giving Josh “advice” on how to manage his life, his son and his sister. I was sitting there thinking it wasn’t any of her business and what made her the expert – it made me a little grumpy. This continues on for most of the book actually. While her advice was essentially good advice, I didn’t really know why Grace would have any insight. It felt to me like the author’s own parenting insights were being channeled through Grace. If Grace had been an experienced nanny and had earned her place to speak so to Josh, I may have taken a different view but as it was, someone who doesn’t know any better coming into to Josh’s home and telling him he’s doing it wrong felt incredibly rude to me.

As for Josh, I found it difficult to see how he’d managed for the previous 5 years, essentially alone. Toby seemed remarkably well adjusted for having a dad who wasn’t around much. How had he managed for that long without things being a lot worse than it was? I mean, things were bad, but not as bad as I would have expected in the circumstances. It was nice to see a male character realise that he “can’t have it all” for a change. Props for that. But, many points were deducted because the minute he got himself some spare time he signed up for a basketball game instead of spending more time with his son, which was like, THE POINT. I liked Josh but taking 5 years to work out that he’s overstretched overstretched me. I don’t see why Josh ended up being the town hero for some pretty neglectful parenting. Like Robin at Dear Author, I think a more interesting story would have been him realising earlier in the book and reconnecting with his family and having a relationship with Grace. I just didn’t buy that Grace could be the fixer here – she’s not Mary Poppins.

Anna, Josh’s sister, read more like 16/17 than 21 to me. The characters in the book treated her like she was younger too IMO.

I also wasn’t sure about Grace’s conflict with her family/identity being based on her being adopted. I certainly get that a child can feel inadequate and believe they’re not able to live up to parental expectations – but because she was adopted? You don’t need to be adopted to feel inadequate. Hanging it all on her adoption and genetics felt a little off to me. Given Grace’s conflict with her family, her parents actually didn’t play a large part in the book and there was no scene where she told them she was living her own life and staying in Lucky Harbor etc like I kind of expected there to be.

That said, the chemistry between Josh and Grace was sizzling and their scenes together (when she wasn’t bossing him around and leaving aside the “what have you done with Toby?” question) were fun and sexy.

I did like the bromance between Josh, Ty and Matt (and even Sawyer) and the scenes where the boys have “found” a copy of Cosmopolitan at the local bar and are poring over the sex advice was hilarious.

Favourite Quote:

Ty pointed his beer at Josh. “Want to know what I think?”

“No,” Josh said.

“I think you have a case of being a little girl. Maybe you should prescribe yourself a heavy dose of man-the-fuck-up.”

Grade: C

At Last by Jill Shalvis

August 15, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I picked this up from NetGalley.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) HER LOVE HAS COME ALONG . . .
Amy Michaels loves her new life in Lucky Harbor. A waitress in the local diner, she’s looking forward to her first weekend hike through the mountains. But when a wrong turn takes her off the trail, she finds herself up close and personal with forest ranger Matt Bowers. And even though she’s tempted to kiss that sexy smile right off his face, she won’t make the mistake of getting involved with the town heartthrob.

A former cop whose life went south, Matt doesn’t let anyone get too close. But something about the feisty beauty caught his eye the moment he first saw her in the diner. After a hot night under a starry sky, Matt can’t deny their attraction-or the fact that for the first time in a long time, he feels the stirrings of something more. Now it’s up to Matt to help Amy see that, no matter what is in their past, together they can build a future in Lucky Harbor.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I think I liked this one a little better than Lucky in Love. While I found the device of Amy’s grandmother’s journal a bit hokey, I did enjoy the relationship between Amy and Matt very much. They are both tortured by past mistakes and hurt and each, for their own reasons, believes that they are unworthy of love. After 6 months of dancing around their attraction, they finally give in and in scratching what they think is only a physical itch (did they ever really think that? Deep down inside?), find that worthy or not, love has found them.

The side plot involving homeless teen Riley was both positive and negative for me. On the positive side, Riley was somewhat of a mirror for Amy and it served as an insight into Amy’s character and made it easier for Matt to figure her out. On the downside, I thought it was terribly naive of Amy (whose character has heretofore been a tough girl ass-kicker type) to just let Riley waltz into her home and give her a key (literally). Given the set up in the previous book of Mallory’s Health Services Centre which included services for troubled teens, I thought it was more a good opportunity gone missing to serve the plot – Amy could have asked Mallory for help to house Riley in a shelter and get some services for her – that would have made much more sense. But, Riley was a point of conflict for Amy and Matt so plotwise a shelter was out.

Amy and Matt had a more usual type of physical relationship arc – and by that I mean that they don’t just jump into bed. Given Amy’s history, this made a lot of sense. I guess I would have liked a bit more exploration of how Amy moved from the physical activity of sex to the intimacy of it and about her comfort level with being physically vulnerable.

I did like the arc of both of them forgiving themselves for past mistakes and coming to believe they were deserving of happiness and Matt gets bonus points for not caring that even if Amy had been selling herself (which she wasn’t) no means no always and no matter what.

What else? There was one section in the book where Matt takes Amy back to his place (which is a bit remote) and wakes in the morning to find her gone. How she went I didn’t know because she didn’t have her car with her and she didn’t take his and it’s a long way to town. Given that he wasn’t worried, I expect this was an editing issue which was maybe (hopefully) fixed before publication. I don’t (generally) refer in my reviews to typos, etc in ARCs but this was a bit more than that and I thought it deserved a mention.

I appreciated (in all three books actually) that the formatting was really good and the text reflowed beautifully when I upsized the font so I could read more comfortably. This is one of the few ebooks which kept identical formatting but just made the text larger. So, props to Grand Central for that.

Grade: B

Lucky in Love by Jill Shalvis

August 14, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I picked this up from NetGalley. I’m a fan of Shalvis and enjoyed the previous Lucky Harbor books.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Mallory Quinn has had enough of playing it safe. As a nurse and devoted daughter, she takes care of everyone but herself. And as the local good girl, she’s expected to date Mr. Right. But for once, she’d like to take a risk on Mr. Wrong. And who could be more wrong than Ty Garrison? The mysterious new guy in town has made it clear that he’s only passing through, which suits Mallory just fine. Besides, his lean, hard body and sexy smile will give her plenty to remember once he’s gone . . .

For the first time in his life, Ty can’t bear to leave. Helping this sexy seductress-in-training walk on the wild side is making him desire things he shouldn?t?including leaving the military for good. As their just-for-fun fling becomes something more, Mallory and Ty wonder if they could really be this lucky in love. After all . . . anything can happen in a town called Lucky Harbor.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Instalment 4 of 6 of the Lucky Habor series, this is the first book in the second trilogy. The first was about the sisters Tara, Maddie and Chloe. This trilogy features the “Chocaholics”, three friends, Mallory, Amy and Grace, who bond over chocolate. It was fun to return to Lucky Harbor, catch up on their Facebook page and some of the other characters (I’m looking at you Lucille). The girls from the first trilogy don’t appear and their men are barely mentioned or only have small parts to play. You can absolutely start here in the series if you haven’t read any of the previous books (although I have enjoyed them all).

What was a little different about this book is that the sexual relationship between Ty and Mallory starts very early in the book (which I liked :D) – Mallory decides to walk on the wild side and go for Mr. Wrong instead of trying to find Mr. Right. So, when an opportunity to get down and dirty with Mysterious Cute Guy comes up unexpectedly, she goes for it. For some reason it didn’t strike me as at all odd that she would do this with such a short acquaintance with him – I guess Ty’s level of sexy leaps out of the page so well that it didn’t bother me. 🙂

Ty isn’t really all that bad of a “bad boy”. The only thing is that he’s leaving town and not planning to return, but other than that, he’s protective, noble, honest and sexy as all get out so there’s a lot to attract a woman.

Mallory is a good girl – after the tragic death of her sister when they were both teenagers, Mallory thinks that if she is only a good girl then everything will be okay. Mallory is a little too good to be true – buying groceries for the elderly, searching out the homeless to give them food, watering the neighbours flowers, etc. If she had stayed that way I expect my teeth would have started to ache with her sweetness. During the course of the book, thankfully, she learns to stand up for herself and also that being rude and blunt is sometimes more effective than being nice.

There’s nothing too startling about the storyline or the characters. They reminded me strongly of Lilah and Brady from Animal Magnetism – the conflict is essentially the same in both books.

However, I enjoy Ms. Shalvis’ writing style so much, I think that she writes male dialogue very well (although there was one scene near the end where I question whether Ty would really say that – it was a kind of “you complete me” moment which was a little too sappy for my tastes) and she writes hot and steamy sex scenes which convey the developing emotional connection between the couple.

There are plenty of funny one liners and sexy conversations – Ty doesn’t mind a bit of the dirty talk and the style is easy and fun – I breezed through the book in an evening and an afternoon. There’s nothing earth shattering or new here, but I found the book an enjoyable sexy read and would recommend it to anyone who likes a good contemporary romance.

Favourite Quote:

“Hydrogen, helium, lithium—”

She stared at him. “What are you doing now?”

“Listing the chemical elements so I can answer the door without a boner.”

“And knowing my mother is on your porch isn’t taking care of that?”

“Good point.”

Grade: B–

Within Reach by Sarah Mayberry

July 19, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’m a fan of Sarah Mayberry and snatched it up when I saw it at NetGalley. Release date: August 7 2012.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Being a single dad was never on Michael Young’s agenda. Yet with the sudden loss of his wife, that’s exactly the role he has. On his best days, he thinks he can handle it. On his worst… Luckily, family friend Angie Bartlett has his back, easily stepping in to help out.

Lately, though, something has changed.

Michael is noticing exactly how gorgeous Angie is, and how single she is. She’s constantly in his thoughts and he feels an attraction he never expected. Does he dare disrupt the very good thing they have going? If they have a fling that goes nowhere, he stands to lose everything—including her. But if they make it work, he stands to gain everything!

What worked for me (and what didn’t): The prologue begins showing Billie celebrating her 32nd birthday with her husband Michael and their 2 children (Eva and Charlie) and her BFF, Angie as well as various other family/friends. The set up succinctly displays a happily married couple and two very close friends who are more like sisters. When Billie dies of an undiagnosed congenital heart defect, both Allie and Michael (as well as the children of course) are devastated. And actually, so was I. I was only on page 17 and I was already crying. Which tells me that in a few short words, I cared enough about the characters that their journey was going to be important to me. So, with a sigh of relief and a box of tissues I settled in for a good read.

Angie is godmother to Michael and Billie’s kids and had been Billie’s close friend since they met at boarding school. But there was never anything between Michael and Angie – no unrequited lusting or jealousy, etc, which I was very glad about. Their relationship had been based around Billie. A relationship entirely familiar to me.

Michael may have been married to Billie for six years, and Angie may have seen him once a week on average during that time, but their friendship had always been grounded in their mutual connection with Billie. Not that Angie didn’t like him in his own right—she did, a lot—but in her mind he was Billie’s husband first and foremost, and then Michael. Just as she suspected she was Billie’s friend first to him, and then herself.

But around about a year after Billie’s death, shortly after the book picks up in Chapter 1 Angie starts to notice Michael in new ways.

He preceded her up the hall and her gaze traveled across his shoulders before dropping to his muscular backside. Billie had often waxed poetic about Michael’s body, but Angie had always made a point of not noticing— she didn’t want to know that kind of stuff. Now, as he stopped at the kitchen counter, she was forcibly reminded of the fact that he was a very attractive man. For a moment she didn’t quite know where to look.

and Michael starts to notice her too.

He had no business noticing her ass. She was Billie’s best friend. Better yet, she was his friend. The shape and size of her ass was utterly irrelevant. Certainly it was of no interest to him.

No interest whatsoever.

Even if it was a very fine, very firm-looking ass.

Both Michael and Angie resist their attraction, feeling it would be a betrayal of Billie. Added to that, Angie knows how deeply Michael loves (present tense) Billie and believes (not unreasonably, in the circumstances) that Michael will remain emotionally unavailable to any other non-Billie woman. After it becomes obvious that resistance is useless, they embark upon what both think is a “friends with benefits” type affair, believing (!) they will be able to go back to their previous good friendship when it’s over.

After Angie realises that she has fallen in love with Michael, she breaks things off. Of course, it is impossible for them to go back and that leads to the finale where Michael realises his love for her two and they plan to live HEA.

The to-ing and fro-ing of the “I find you irresistibly attractive and want to jump your bones” and “I can’t feel this way, you’re my best friend’s husband/my wife’s best friend” could have gotten tired (and I can see that for some that will be the case) but for me, it was written so well and believably that I was caught up in the pair’s dilemma and it had me in tears well into the book. Michael’s journey in particular, as he wakes up from being almost completely numb for the first 10 or 11 months after Billie’s death, how he comes to grips with desiring another woman (no matter who it is) and his feeling that he is betraying his wife was very moving. Perhaps, because Billie had been a real character to me at the start of the book, I was able to sympathise with both characters and not think “oh, just get over it already.”. And maybe because of that same understanding of Billie, brief though it was, I never thought that she would disapprove of the pairing. It wasn’t icky – Billie had been gone for over a year before anything happened romantically between them. In fact, I thought Billie would be delighted that the pair had found happiness together and that her children would be so well loved and cared for.

It wasn’t all angst and tears though. Ms. Mayberry has a lovely turn of phrase which made me chuckle and occasionally snort as I was reading. Like here for example, when Michael is being hit on by a member of the local mother’s group

“That’s very kind of you,” Michael said.

It was, too—if only they weren’t both looking at him as though he was the last chopper out of Saigon.

There is also some hot (and sometimes tender) sex, including a blowjob scene where Angie tells Michael to “shut up and take it like a man” which made me laugh.

The connection and affection between Michael and Angie was obvious, as was their mutual devotion and connection to the 2 children – who, thankfully were not plot moppets. What concerned me (and perhaps I am just projecting here) is that it seemed to me that Angie thought of herself as the “consolation prize”. It was reiterated a number of times in the book that if Billie had been alive, neither Michael nor Angie would even have looked at each other with intent. Michael would have happily stayed married to Billie for the rest of his life. It struck me that would be hard to live up to as wife number 2. Toward the end of the book, and to Michael’s great appreciation, Angie makes it clear that she does not want to forget Billie and she knows Michael will always love her and she doesn’t want the children to ever forget her (although Charlie was only 1 when she died so good luck with that) but it seemed to me that she was by her words consigning herself forever to second place. I understood the sentiment – of course Billie should be remembered. Of course a part of Michael would always love Billie. But what I wanted as a reader was some assurance that Michael didn’t see Angie as the consolation prize and that he convinced (or at least intended to) Angie of it. Now, I’m not a writer and I haven’t given this hours of thought so it’s not like I have any suggestions of how to do that, but I would dearly have liked it to be there. Because as it was, I felt that eventually Angie would be crushed by it.

That meant that the book had a bittersweet kind of ending for me. I loved the couple together and believed in their love for each other. I even thought that friends and family would probably accept them as a couple fairly easily*, but I worried for Angie that she would always feel second best and I thought she deserved better than that.

Now, the thing is, I spent some time last night (by the time I was about halfway through the book it was too late and I just had to go to sleep) worrying about it and when it wasn’t even touched on really in the book in any overt way at least, my worries weren’t assuaged and I didn’t know how to process that. But, there I was worrying about the characters. So, on the one hand, there was something that dissatisfied but on the other, the main reason for that dissatisfaction was that I felt so strongly about the characters in the first place. So that’s kind of a plus and a minus and it means that the grade is a high B rather than an A.

*Possibly because of word count restrictions, there weren’t a lot of other people populating the book. There was a vague mention of other friends of Angie’s but basically none for Michael. It seemed that he had been all but alone for that year since Billie did, except for Angie – and that kind of struck me as odd. It also seemed a little unhealthy for Michael to rely so much on Angie and it would have been nice for there to be a slightly wider circle for Michael to depend upon for support (apart from the practical help he occasionally got from his neighbour). It didn’t detract in a major way from the book and like I say, I think there were reasons for it, but I did notice it when I thought about it later.

I did like how Angie’s jewellery design business was integrated into the story – enough detail to feel realistic but not too much to intrude. And, with Michael being an architect, it provided another point of compatibility for them as a couple.

My thoughts overall: great book, a real tearjerker – can I have a Christmas short or follow up story where I can see how Angie and Michael deal with the “consolation prize” thing?

What else? Good Lord that’s a boring cover. Really, the book deserves much better.

Grade: B+

Sweet Talk by Julie Garwood

July 11, 2012 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I picked this up from NetGalley because the blurb looked interesting.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) When FBI agent Grayson Kincaid first encounters Olivia MacKenzie, she makes quite an impression. The beautiful, tough, young attorney has stumbled into the middle of an FBI sting operation and has reduced it to chaos. Months of surveillance and careful planning down the drain, Kincaid’s partner is furious and lets Olivia know that she’s ticked off the wrong guy. After all, he’s FBI.Olivia isn’t intimidated by his partner’s bullying because she’s something even scarier…she’s IRS. And working for the IRS isn’t for the faint of heart. She’s on the trail of an elaborate Ponzi scheme, one that threatens to ruin the lives of naive and unsuspecting victims, and one she has personal reasons to be angry about. But after she asks questions of the wrong people, her life is suddenly endangered. She’s accustomed to fighting for the underdog but being vulnerable herself is a very different story. Smart enough to know when to call for reinforcements, she contacts Grayson Kincaid.Together they make an excellent team to fight corruption but Olivia is also fighting the immediate and intense attraction she feels for Agent Kincaid, and that may be a battle she is bound to lose.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): The blurb is a little misleading. Olivia does work for the IRS and she also does some child advocacy on the side (she’s a lawyer) but the Ponzi scheme reference is a reference to a personal investigation she’s doing outside of both those activities. She’s investigating her father. And, she doesn’t contact Grayson – he comes to her.

When Grayson and Olivia first meet (she’s having a job interview because of potential cutbacks at the IRS), she is threatened by the interviewer (Jorguson) and his bodyguard (Martin) – they are dodgy as all get out (Olivia hasn’t had time to research – I appreciated she was smart and usually would) and suspect she is an FBI agent wearing a wire. When Olivia is shot a couple of months later, Grayson and his partner Ronan (not the partner the blurb talks of, a different one) investigate the possible connection and investigate Jorguson and Martin. as well as Olivia’s father and his lawyer, Simmons, (who has also been threatening Olivia).

All the bad guys in this book are very very bad. And there are a lot of them. There are no redeeming characteristics and their evil sometimes came across as a caricature. Olivia’s father is charismatic and evil and one dimensional. Olivia’s mother, sister and brother-in-law are heinous – unbelievably selfish and self-absorbed. These three crossed the caricature line early and never quite made it back.

Thankfully, Olivia has some non-heinous people in her life too. When she was a child, she had some form of (unspecified) cancer and was involved in some kind of (also unspecified) experimental treatment (which sounded horrendous but it seems to have worked). She was isolated and then merely hospitalised with 3 other girls with the same disease – Jane, Collins and Sam and they are her surrogate sisters and best friends. I enjoyed the banter between the girls.

There is a subplot involving Jane and her brother Logan which could have been left out I feel. There is a large cast of characters in this book and the consequences/fallout of the story involving Jane was left largely unexplored here due to (I assume) lack of space. Still, I suspect that Jane will get her own book and maybe those issues will be dealt with there.

As for Grayson, he ran a bit hot and cold for me. There were times when I loved him and there were other times where he skirted right up to the jerk line (and sometimes crossed over). He could be very overbearing and demanding and got really angry really fast – while I didn’t think that was ever a threat to Olivia, I can’t imagine it being comfortable to be around. Grayson is also a little too good to be true – he’s a trust fund baby who works super hard for the FBI, renovating and flipping buildings in his spare time. He also takes on custody of his 9 year old nephew Henry during the book and he’s a devoted “dad”.

Grayson and Olivia have an instant connection but at the beginning they spent long periods apart – Grayson doesn’t call for 2 months after their first kiss and, seemingly, he only turns up because she’s been shot. There didn’t seem to be any conversation between the two where the reason for his absence (he took on custody of Henry) was discussed and I ended up feeling that Olivia caved too soon because she didn’t make him grovel. Then again, she’d been shot so maybe she had other things on her mind! 🙂 The breaks between them in their early relationship had the effect, for me, of making the story appear episodic.

As the book progresses, Grayson finds it increasingly more difficult to stay away from Olivia. I’m sure there is potential professional trouble for him with him dating a witness/victim of crime but that wasn’t really explored beyond letting Ronan take the lead in the investigation and Grayson saying he should stay away (but then not).

Olivia, having seen (via her friends’ families, not her own) the devastation life threatening illness caused, is reluctant to commit to a permanent relationship – she believes she cannot have a HEA, thinking that one day the cancer will come back. This was a really interesting aspect to the story and I wish it had been explored a little more. In the end, she changed her mind (it is a romance, so of course she does) but I wasn’t quite convinced of the why of it.

There were some amusing moments in the book – I had a bit of a chuckle when Olivia compares Grayson to a modern day Bruce Wayne and asks if he has a batmobile in his garage (he says it’s in the bat cave of course) and Olivia’s tormenting of Grayson with a popsicle. The scene where both Collins (who’s about to start FBI training) meets Ronan (who is gobsmacked) and both girls are (inadvertently) tormenting the guys by sucking on their popsicles was pretty funny.

Grayson and Olivia had definite chemistry. While the book is not terribly explicit, they certainly smoked up the sheets.

What else? This was a book that I enjoyed well enough when I was reading – it certainly was readable and I read it in only 2 or 3 evenings, but when I thought back on it, I could see more flaws than story highs. I wanted to like it more than I did but in the end, it didn’t really satisfy. Then again, I think I might be super picky with my Romantic Suspense, so YMMV.

Grade: C-