Category: B reviews (Page 24 of 74)

Controlled Burn by Shannon Stacey, narrated by Tatiana Sokolov

May 17, 2016 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’m a fan of both the author and the narrator so I bought it.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Rick Gullotti lives the good life. He fights fires, dates beautiful women—though none long enough so they cast wistful glances at jewelry stores—and has great friends. And thanks to helping out the elderly couple who own his building, his rent is low. But when concerns about their health lead him to contact their only son, his life starts getting away from him.

Jessica Broussard has no interest in leaving sunny San Diego or her cushy corner office for Boston, but her father—who happens to be her boss—dispatches her to deal with the grandparents she’s never met. She’s unprepared for the frigid winter, loving relatives who aren’t the monsters she’s been led to believe, and the hot, scruffy firefighter who lives upstairs.

At first, Jessica is determined to get back to her comfortable life as quickly as possible. All she has to do is talk her grandparents into selling their monstrosity of a house and moving to a retirement community. But she underestimates Rick’s dedication—and his considerable charm. Nobody’s taking advantage of his friends on his watch, even if that makes the tempting southern California girl with the long legs his adversary. Unfortunately for them both, the only thing more urgent than the matter at hand is their sizzling chemistry, and it’s quickly becoming too strong to resist.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Alas real firefighters don’t walk around in their turnout pants and no shirt. And, the firefighters I’ve actually seen in action, are mostly not as hot as the ones on book covers. They do exist though – I’ve seen the calendar. The firefighters in Shannon Stacey’s Boston Fire series however are the real deal. I enjoy their camaraderie and closeness and their sensible approach to a very dangerous job. Work health and safety is not seen as sexy but there is something awesome about a guy who does the right thing and doesn’t showboat. Rick Gullotti is a lieutenant in the Boston Fire Department. He’s not a grandstander after glory. A good day for him is when they put out the fire, save the people (and animals) and his team get home safe. It’s competence porn at its best.
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So Sweet by Rebekah Weatherspoon

May 9, 2016 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’d been eyeing this one for a while as the premise appealed. I snapped it up on special for 99c recently. (Then of course, it went on a promotion for free. Isn’t that always the way? 😀 I’m not complaining. It was worth my 99c for sure.)

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Desperate times call for desperate measures…

And desperate is the only way to describe Kayla Davis’s current situation. Out of work and almost out of money to cover her bills, Kayla finally caves to her roommate’s nagging and follows her to Arrangements, an online dating site that matches pretty young women with older men of a certain tax bracket.

Convinced this “make-rent-quick” scheme will surely fail – or saddle her with an 80 year old boyfriend – Kayla is shocked when Michael Bradbury, Internet billionaire and stone-cold salt and pepper fox, offers her a solution to all her financial troubles. It’s hard enough for Kayla to accept his generosity, but what’s a girl to do when the wealthiest man she’s ever met is a dream in and outside of the bedroom?

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I’ve never read a Sugar Baby/Sugar Daddy romance before. I’ve heard of the arrangements before and I admit I was curious about the concept. I think the author did a great job of making the arrangement palatable here; Kayla was uncomfortable with the idea of trading sex for money directly and wanted at least some emotional connection with the person she made any deal with – which didn’t quite fit with this:

Besides, neither of us were looking for Mr. Right or Mr. Forever. She was looking for Mr. 90 Days Max and I was looking for Mr. Hold Me Over Until I Find A Job.

but it was such a good line, I gave it a pass. 😀 Also, even when Kayla and Michael entered into their arrangement, didn’t just sit on her butt and be the kept woman. She still looked for a job, for example. She clearly didn’t want to be a sponge and Michael recognised that in her. In a weird way, it made the exchange of money kind of irrelevant. My impression was that Michael would have been in a relationship with Kayla regardless (and vice versa). That probably made more sense in my head. Continue reading

April Round Up

May 3, 2016 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Review

Love Me Like a Rock by Amy Jo Cousins – B Austin and Vinnie are suite-mates with Rafi (from Level Hands) at Carlisle college and is the cox for the Junior Varsity boat in the rowing team. He’s short (5’4″) and compact (but fit and strong) and has a mop of curly red hair. He and Vinnie have been BFFs since they met in high school and shortly after, they also became semi-regular fuck buddies. Austin has been waiting for Vinnie to want an actual relationship. Vinnie is only interested in Vinnie in any romantic kind of way when he’s turned in a paper and wants to de-stress, get drunk and screw. Austin figures he’ll wise up eventually. But in the meantime, he’s free to have a fling with the hot model from the latest life drawing class. Sean is a geology senior, taller than Austin but not by a lot and he’s also a redhead – his style is lumbersexual, complete with beard. While Austin makes things clear to Sean, it’s equally obvious that Sean is really, willing and able to go all in. He’s had his eye on Austin for over a year.

Over the course of the story, Austin realises that his fuck buddy relationship with Vinnie is unhealthy and going nowhere. And, as he spends time with Sean, he realises that there are reasons for that, some of which come down to Austin himself. He finds himself a different person with Sean – more relaxed and open about his feelings. By different I don’t mean that Sean changes Austin. It’s not like that. It’s more that with Sean, Austin relaxes and opens up in a different way and learns a new way to be – he’s always himself and Sean doesn’t want or ask for him to change his personality or anything. Continue reading

Offensive Behavior by Ainslie Paton

April 30, 2016 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I was provided with a copy by the author.

Disclosure: I’m friendly with the author on Twitter. We talk often. I know she’s a super cool person who won’t get bent out of shape if I don’t like a book she writes and I feel comfortable that I can say what I think without it being awkward. So I’m reviewing this one. As always, readers get to decide if my opinion is helpful to them.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Everyone is virgin at something

This is the story of a man who’s never done it, and a woman with the experience to teach him how.

Reid McGrath is drunk and intends to stay that way. It’s what a man does when the world he built gets ripped out from under him. He’s staked a claim on the back booth at Lucky’s where he can fixate on a dancer who makes him wish things were different.

Zarley Halveston dances under shimmering lights in a barely there costume, but it’s not the gold medal life she trained for. She expected to stand on an Olympic podium, instead she glitters under disco lights, gyrating on a chrome pole. Zarley can’t see the brooding man in the back booth, but she knows he’s there. He’s toxic, but it’s not her job to care, until the night he collapses at her feet and she has to choose to step over him or help him up.

Reid thought he’d hit bottom when he was fired as CEO of his own company, but knowing he’d needed the kindness of a stranger, and realizing she was the dancer he’d lusted after was a new low.

Question: What do a fallen golden girl and a sacked tech tycoon have in common except humiliation and failure?

Answer: The reawakening of a champion competitor and the sexual education of a frustrated geek.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Reid McGrath is the weird loner guy who starts a multi-million dollar tech company but manages to have almost no people skills. (I’ve met people like him – except with less money.) He’s been so focused on his company and coming up with brilliant apps and other software, he didn’t really have time for women (that’s his excuse anyway). But his woeful people skills collided with his company’s “No Asshole” rule and he was fired. From his own company. Oh the humiliation. The rage! Continue reading

Lovers Leap by JL Merrow, narrated by Mark Steadman.

April 28, 2016 / Kaetrin

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

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) If they looked, would they ever leap?

Good-looking, confident, and doted on by his widowed mum, Michael is used to thinking only of himself. Getting shoved off an Isle of Wight pier by an exasperated ex ought to come as a wake-up call—but then he meets Rufus and he’s right back to letting the little head take charge. Rufus is cute, keen, and gets under Michael’s skin in a disturbing way.

Would-be chef Rufus can’t believe his luck when a dripping wet dream of a man walks out of the sea on his birthday, especially when Michael ends up staying at the family B&B. Life is perfect—at least until Michael has to go home to the mainland.

Rufus can’t leave the island for reasons he’s entirely neglected to mention. And though Michael identifies as bi, breaking his mum’s heart by coming out and having an actual relationship with a guy has never been his plan. With both men determined to keep their secrets, a leap of faith could land them in deep water.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): This book was an audio delight. The narration was, with only small exceptions, excellent and the story entirely suited the audio medium. One of my favourite things about JL Merrow books is her sense of humour and here I was actually laughing out loud in places.

A word of warning however: Michael says things, most especially at the start of the story which are biphobic, homophobic and transphobic. While he does gain something of an education in the book, the time frame is very short and it is not clear that at the end of it, he has resolved all of his issues. He, at least, acknowledges that he has them and he’s working on them but he’s incredibly lacking in self-awareness (awareness in general, really) at the start of the story and his journey doesn’t go into the kind of detail which fixes all of his… rough edges. Continue reading

Brotherhood in Death by JD Robb

April 18, 2016 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I love Eve and Roarke so I bought it as soon as it was available.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Sometimes brotherhood can be another word for conspiracy…

Dennis Mira just had two unpleasant surprises. First he learned that his cousin Edward was secretly meeting with a real estate agent about their late grandfather’s magnificent West Village brownstone, despite the promise they both made to keep it in the family. Then, when he went to the house to confront Edward about it, he got a blunt object to the back of the head.

Luckily Dennis is married to Charlotte Mira, the NYPSD’s top profiler and a good friend of Lieutenant Eve Dallas. When the two arrive on the scene, he explains that the last thing he saw was Edward in a chair, bruised and bloody. When he came to, his cousin was gone. With the mess cleaned up and the security disks removed, there’s nothing left behind but a few traces for forensics to analyze.

As a former lawyer, judge, and senator, Edward Mira mingled with the elite and crossed paths with criminals, making enemies on a regular basis. Like so many politicians, he also made some very close friends behind closed—and locked—doors. But a badge and a billionaire husband can get you into places others can’t go, and Eve intends to shine some light on the dirty deals and dark motives behind the disappearance of a powerful man, the family discord over a multimillion-dollar piece of real estate . . . and a new case that no one saw coming.

Trigger Warning: Graphic sexual violence against men and women

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I was so excited about this book because it promised to have lots of Dennis Mira and he’s been a favourite character in the series for some time, even though he’s not in it very much. I’ve always kind of wondered how the absent-mindedness works when he’s clearly so capable so much of the time. (The first time I encountered Mr. Mira in the series, I thought maybe he had a brain injury or maybe early onset Alzheimer’s or something but it became clear that neither of those things apply.) And, while Brotherhood in Death did have more of Mr. Mira in it than any of the earlier books (including a particularly touching scene between he and Eve later in the book), he still wasn’t in it all that much. Sadness!
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