I’m over at Dear Author with a review of In Heaven and Earth by Amy Rae Durreson. Don’t let the boring cover fool you.
Tag: novella (Page 20 of 29)
Monthly Mini Review
Soul Deep by Pamela Clare – C I usually love Pamela Clare’s romantic suspense books and I was excited to see this one release. However, I found this novella overly saccharin and the epilogue was far too cheesy for me and hit a few of my personal hot buttons.
On a more positive note, I was happy to see Janet Killeen again and I liked Jack West from previous books. Jack is 63 and therefore significantly older than the regular romance hero. Janet is 45 and that doesn’t seem the least bit old to me anymore – I’d have almost preferred her to be older actually (with the added bonus of no hot button epilogue because reasons). This is a novella and I expected the romance would be quick but even so I was not expecting the characters to acknowledge (if only to themselves) they were in love in mere days. That was too fast for me and took the book out of realistic and into fairytale for me. Perhaps if I had started the book that way I’d have been okay but I did not so… The beginning was strong but I’m afraid the author started to lose me at the point the L word was first mentioned. I did like that Janet was always competent, even when she was stuck in a ditch in her car in a blizzard, she had a space blanket to keep her warm. Perhaps Jack is unusually vigorous for a man of his age (who knows – when I get closer to that age myself I may well think back to this post and slap my past self upside the head) but I was prepared to go with it for the story. Continue reading
I’m over at Dear Author with a review of Evening Storm by Anne Calhoun – moody and sexy, with an unusual storyline. I liked it.
Why I read it: I saw some positive reviews from trusted Goodreads friends, so I bought it.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) Jez Fielding and James MacKenzie—Big Mac to his mates—are in their second year at uni. After partying too hard last year, they make a pact to rein themselves in. While their housemates are out drinking every weekend, Jez and Mac stay in to save cash and focus on their studies.
When Jez suggests watching some porn together, he isn’t expecting Mac to agree to it. One thing leads to another, and soon their arrangement becomes hands-on rather than hands-off. But falling for your straight friend can only end badly, unless there’s a chance he might feel the same.
What worked for me (and what didn’t): Jez and Mac live (with others) in a share house while they study at university in Plymouth (in the UK). Mac has to stay in because he’s falling woefully behind in his classes and Jez has to stay in because in the first year of uni he went a bit overboard with the partying and ran up a massive overdraft. His wealthy parents are teaching him a lesson by requiring him to work off the debt himself which means he has little spare money for going out. As a result, Mac and Jez are regularly home on Friday and Saturday nights when the rest of their housemates are out.
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Monthly Mini Review
Yours All Along by Roni Loren – B- This novella is a kind of prequel to Call On Me which I reviewed for Dear Author this month. I read it in the wrong order but it doesn’t really matter. The only thing Call On Me “spoils” is that they are happily together and romance readers already know that’s how it’s going to end so it’s no big deal. Actually, it was probably beneficial that I’d read Call On Me first because I knew Devon and Hunter were still very happy together many years later and that helped give me a sense that they were very much right at the end of Yours All Along.
The novella is set in 2007 and flashes back to 2003 when both men were in college and roomed in a frat house together. Devon, openly gay, became close friends with Hunter, who comes from a wealthy controlling family with high expectations. His State Senator father is a homophobic bigot and expects certain behaviours from Hunter – and they definitely don’t include being gay. Hunter had previously identified as straight but over time, his attraction for Devon develops. I suppose it is a version of an Out for You story but it felt authentic to me. When Devon and Hunter met they were just 20 so it seemed not unbelievable to me that Hunter may not have previously realised his same sex attraction. This is particularly so because it was only when he came to California for college that he felt any sense of freedom to be himself at all. Continue reading
Why I read it: I saw some buzz about this one on Twitter, including that the hero of the Tessa Bailey book was a virgin, so I pre-ordered it.
What it’s about: (from Goodreads) OFF BASE: Kenna and Beck By Tessa Bailey
A welcome home he never expected…and will never forget…
When Kenna Sutton is tasked with driving home newly returned Beck “True Blue” Collier, she expects the strategic Army mastermind to be a pasty number cruncher. Never at a loss for words, Kenna is nonetheless rendered speechless by the gorgeous, inexperienced and tightly-wound Army major that lands in her passenger seat. Outraged by Beck’s lack of a welcome home after seven long years overseas, Kenna takes matters into her own hands, giving Beck something he’s only ever fantasized about in his bunk.
Beck has never shied away from a test of will and Kenna gives new meaning to the word challenge. One problem? Kenna’s father is the lieutenant general presenting Beck with the Silver Star and Beck is determined to treat Kenna with the respect she deserves, even if her eyes beg Beck to act out his most secret desires with her. Desires he’s always been told were the work of the devil. But how long can one lonely, starving man hope to resist the woman he craves?
What worked for me (and what didn’t): While Beck is a virgin, he’s not shy and he’s not reticent. (In my opinion, this is the best kind of virgin hero!) He had been dating a girl from his hometown who was a pastor’s daughter and they’d decided to “wait”. When she broke up with him while he was deployed, he didn’t have the inclination to change his status and so he ended up a 26 year old virgin.
Kenna’s mother had a reputation on base as a “loose woman” and it amuses Kenna to dress in short skirts and tight tops but never, ever, put out on base. Her dad is Lieutenant General Sutton and no soldier has been prepared to try his luck with the beautiful daughter of the commanding officer – although they like very much to look. Kenna gets her itch scratched off base when the need arises. She has a complicated relationship with her (now divorced) parents. She has never measured up to their expectations, although she has mostly moved beyond acting out for attention. When she picks Beck up per her father’s request, she is struck by how strongly she feels about the fact that there are no family or friends welcoming him home. It doesn’t hurt that he’s built and gorgeous but I think what strikes her the most is Beck’s almost completely successful efforts to look her in the eyes and not look her over. In fact, she makes her best efforts to try and draw his eyes to her chest and behind so he can be neatly categorised as “just like all the other guys”. It so happens she gives him a special “welcome home”, but the emotional connection between them scares her and she rabbits. Continue reading
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