Category: B reviews (Page 38 of 74)

The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen

September 6, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: This was recommended by Jane from Dear Author so I bought it.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) The sport she loves is out of reach. The boy she loves has someone else.

What now?

She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.

Across the hall, in the other handicapped-accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league.

Also, he’s taken.

Nevertheless, an unlikely alliance blooms between Corey and Hartley in the “gimp ghetto” of McHerrin Hall. Over tequila, perilously balanced dining hall trays, and video games, the two cope with disappointments that nobody else understands.

They’re just friends, of course, until one night when things fall apart. Or fall together. All Corey knows is that she’s falling. Hard.

But will Hartley set aside his trophy girl to love someone as broken as Corey? If he won’t, she will need to find the courage to make a life for herself at Harkness — one which does not revolve around the sport she can no longer play, or the brown-eyed boy who’s afraid to love her back.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Okay, this one grabbed me from the start and made me stay up too late last night finishing. I’d say it’s a fairly low conflict story even though each main protagonist has plenty of “shit to shovel”. Corey and Hartley become friends quickly and that friendship builds and grows over time. Corey basically falls in love with him but they are just friends because Hartley is taken. His extremely high maintenance girlfriend is studying abroad for a few months. So there is chemistry and some light flirtation which neither acknowledges as flirtation because he’s taken, and a very slow build to the romance.

August Round Up

September 2, 2014 / Kaetrin

Monthly Mini Reviews

Frigid by J. Lynn (Jennifer L. Armintrout) – C+ I enjoy the friends to lovers trope and I liked Wait for You so I bought this one when it was 99c one day a while ago. Kyler and Sydney have been friends since they were toddlers and each has had deep romantic feelings for one another for quite some time. Kyler is a bit of a manwhore and enjoys a lot of one night stands. Sydney has only had one boyfriend and her sexual experience is very limited (and the one time she had penetrative sex it wasn’t very good and her boyfriend split up with her almost immediately after and complained to his buddies she was frigid). Both Kyler and Sydney think the other is out of their league for one reason or another but when they are stranded together at Kyler’s family ski lodge in a blizzard the truth finally comes out. The story is told from both main characters’ POV in alternating sections and, for the most part, the big misunderstanding the story is conceived on didn’t bother me too much. This is because things move apace and the whole book, in terms of their relationship, is about solving the puzzle, not setting up the misunderstanding. So, they spend the book learning how to be honest with one another and that gave them a kind of get-out-of-jail-free card when it comes to my dislike of the “Big Mis” trope. However, they just had to throw in one too many of the misunderstandings in order to have the grand reunion and that was one too many for me. There is also a suspense plot in there which I thought was kind of unnecessary and bizarre but overall, it was an easy read and not taxing on the brain.

BUY IT:
AMAZON KOBO

The Hook-up by Abigail Barnette – B This free short story takes place after the events of The Girlfriend and therefore contains spoilers for the earlier books. For that reason, I’d say best not to read it before the other two but if you don’t mind about spoilers, then I suppose you could. In this story, Neil is in London, away from Sophie who is in New York. He has a hookup with their mutual friend-with-benefits “Emir” and things don’t go the way one might expect. I enjoyed the story in part because it was sexy and hot. I liked that Neil’s bisexuality was shown on page and celebrated and it was nice to get some of Neil’s POV. I also liked the chance to enjoy a short which was low conflict. I expect there will be some other trouble ahead for Neil and Sophie – books would be boring without conflict – so it was nice to see them happy, even if they weren’t physically together in this instalment. Sophie wasn’t completely absent from the story, but she’s not the focus. It’s only 30 or so pages so it’s a short hot read and hey: free.

DOWNLOAD IT:
SMASHWORDS

Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold, narrated by Grover Gardner

August 29, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I’m continuing my Vorkosigan series listen and this one was next. Or I’d skipped it. The reading order is somewhat fraught I must say. In any event, it’s kind of a tangent from the rest of the series so it fit where I was up to well enough.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Dr. Ethan Urquhart, an obstetrician on a planet forbidden to women, is Chief of Biology at the Severin District Reproduction Center and one of the busiest men on the planet Athos. Then a mysterious genetic crisis threatens Athos with extinction. Drafted to brave the wider universe for his cloistered fellows in quest of new ovarian tissue cultures, Ethan braces himself for his first encounter with those most alien of aliens–females of his own species.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): As is usually the case with books from the Vorkosiverse, I didn’t bother to read the blurb before diving in. So I had no expectations at all except that very likely Miles would not appear in this one given the title. (I was correct.)

Ethan is a doctor at the Reproduction Centre in the Severin District on Athos. It quickly becomes apparent that Athos is a very unusual place – there are no females on it. At all. The babies are all created from sperm donations from the male inhabitants who have earned sufficient “social credits” to be a father and ovarian tissue which is cultured to create egg cells. Once fertilised via an IVF-like procedure, the fetuses are gestated in uterine-replicators (just like the one in which Miles spent the latter part of his gestation).

One Night of Sin by Elle Kennedy

August 27, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I bought this one because: Elle Kennedy and also: 99c.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Sometimes it’s good to be bad…

When it comes to sex, good girl Skyler Thompson always plays it safe, choosing stable and sedate over wild and thrilling. She doesn’t do one-night-stands, but one look at sinfully sexy Gage Holt and she’s willing to reconsider. He makes her want to be bad for once in her life, and she’s prepared to take what she wants.

Danger follows former MMA fighter Gage Holt like a shadow. Despite his successes as part owner of Sin, an exclusive nightclub in Boston, Gage can’t risk getting involved with a woman, especially one as sweet as Skyler. Still, he can’t resist a taste—and it’s so damn good he has to see her again.

As addicted as he is to her, Gage knows there’s no future for him and Skyler—not with his past lurking in the dark corners of an MMA cage. But Skylar’s tougher than she looks, and she’s ready to fight for her man.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I liked the hell out of Elle Kennedy’s Out of Uniform series (especially Feeling Hot) so when I saw this one was available for pre-order for 99c I snapped it up. I really enjoy her contemporary voice. I think she writes great sex and authentic guys.

The Lonely Drop by Vanessa North

August 23, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: It was recommended to me all over the place. It’s also free as a free thing which is free. Extra bonus points for the clean formatting and good copy editing.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Dear Author,

Ten years ago, I turned him down.

One night stands were his norm, and not because he couldn’t have had a relationship if he’d wanted one. He could pretty much have any man he wanted. I walked away because I deserved better.

Now our paths have crossed again. He has the world at his feet. It’s a tempting thought to throw away my lifetime of ideals for a single night with him.

Do I still have the strength to walk away?

Do I even want to?

Photo Description:
Two men lie naked in bed. One is on his stomach, with his head out of the frame, the other strokes a hesitant hand down his lover’s back.

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s “Love’s Landscapes” event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): Nick Hana and Kevin Dorsey have been best friends all through college. They’re both on the college soccer team and they’re both gay. They also have a lot of other things in common and have been very close. Nick is in love with Kevin but Kev gets around and is notorious for one-night stands. Nick is a firm believer in sex having to mean something. He doesn’t want to have sex for the sake of sex. He wants the relationship too. Believing he cannot get that from Kevin, they part the eve before graduation on unfriendly terms.

The Boss by Abigail Barnette

August 12, 2014 / Kaetrin

Why I read it: I follow Jenny Trout (the author – Abigail Barnette is a pseudonym) on Twitter and I picked this one up some time ago when it was either free or 99c. At the time of writing, it was free from Amazon. The other books in the series are available from Kobo but I couldn’t find this one there for some reason.

What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Sophie Scaife almost ran away once, trading her ticket to college for a ticket to Tokyo. But a delayed flight and a hot one-night stand with a stranger changed her mind, putting her firmly on track to a coveted position at a New York fashion magazine.

When the irresistible stranger from that one incredible night turns out to be her new boss – billionaire and publishing magnate Neil Elwood – Sophie can’t resist the chance to rekindle the spark between them… and the opportunity to explore her submissive side with the most Dominant man she’s ever known.

Neil is the only man who has ever understood Sophie’s need to submit in the bedroom, and the only man who has ever satisfied those desires. When their scorching, no-strings-attached sexual relationship becomes something more, Sophie must choose between her career and heart… or risk losing them both.

What worked for me (and what didn’t): I might be remembering wrongly but I think Jenny Trout is open about this being her attempt at writing a Fifty Shades of Grey/Crossfire type book; except better. There is the billionaire and the young girl, kinky sex, a work connection and drama-llama. I’ve never read Fifty and I don’t plan to. I read and really liked Bared to You but I haven’t read beyond book two of that series because I lost interest. I think this book is better. And there are a number of reasons for that. Let me explain. *beckons*