Walking Disaster by Jamie McGuire

This book is the same story as Beautiful Disaster, just told from Travis’ point of view instead of Abby’s.  I skimmed this book because I felt that I already knew the story and didn’t really see the point in reading it again.  I think that this book should have been part of the first book; many authors alternate viewpoints within a story successfully.  I feel like this was only written to cash in on the popularity of the first book.  The only part of the book that I enjoyed was the last chapter which showed the two main characters a few years down the line as a married couple on their anniversary.

To Seek a Master by Monica Belle

This is a re-issue under the branding of “Black Lace Classics”.  I remember reading some of the books in this line back in the early 90′s.  (Here is the story on the re-launch of the line.)  This was not one I had read back then, but the galley was available on NetGalley so I decided to give it a try.

Shy Laura begins receiving emails at work.  She is unsure who is emailing her about what she is wearing, and sets out to try to find out by process of elimination.  When she finally finds out who it is, they begin an unusual relationship that fulfills desires she didn’t know she had.  I basically skimmed this book as I wasn’t that into these characters or the situations.  It was a little too out there for me and since these were characters that I didm’t really care about or care about getting to know, I didn’t even try.

Rage Against the Dying by Becky Masterman

One of my co-workers recommended this thriller and I saw an Advance Readers’ Edition laying around, so I decided to read it.  The story centers around Brigid Quinn, a woman who retired from the FBI under less than stellar circumstances.  The book begins with her being attacked, a very well-written tense scene that pulls you right into her story.  When someone confesses to the biggest unsolved case of her serial killer hunting career, Brigid is pulled back into helping to find out if the confession is true. Brigid’s involvement in the case leads her to lie to her current husband and cause stress in their relationship.  I enjoyed the fact that this thriller’s main character was an older, flawed woman, a bit of a change from the normal protagonist in this type of book.  Overall, a worthwhile read.

Romance at Random Hockey Hop Giveaway

Yes, another giveaway from Romance at Random.  Click on the link below to enter.  This time they are giving away 5 ebook sets of the Assassins Hockey Series by Toni Aleo, 10 NetGalley preview sets, and one $20 Starbucks gift card.  Books in the series include: Taking Shots, Trying to Score, and Empty Nets, and they are all on sale now.  

Enter for a chance to win.

 

(And don’t forget the Claim Me Giveaway is still going on too.  Scroll down the page a bit to find the link.)

The Sweetest Dark by Shana Abe

I received a free Advance Readers Edition of this book.  I never read her Drakon series before this book, but from what I understand, this series exists in the same “world” as those but this one is written for young adults.  I don’t think I have read a book with characters who could change to dragons before except for a novella in Sherrilyn Kenyon’s Were-Hunter series, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.  As it turns out, this book is alternative fiction, set in England during the first World War, and is not set on another planet somewhere in the author’s imagination, and for me this makes the book much better as I am not a big sci-fi fantasy reader.

The book follows Lora Jones, a seventeen-year-old orphan who seems like everyone else, but hears music from metals and gemstones, and an occasional voice who speaks to her.  When she had spoken of this as a child, they put her through some brutal “cures” for her mental problems at the orphanage, so she had learned to not mention it to anyone.  Lora receives a scholarship to an elite boarding school called Iverson as their charity case for the year and so is able to leave the London orphanage for the southern coast of England.  As the only poor student there, Lora is ridiculed by some and left somewhat on her own.  She meets and befriends two boys, one the groundskeeper Jesse, and the other Armand, the son of the duke who finances the whole school and her scholarship.  Once she meets them, her life will never be the same as she learns and begins to embrace what she truly is.  And, as has become common in many adult novels after the success of the Twilight series, both boys want her heart; a plot device which I find I am growing a bit tired of.  While they are not vampire and werewolf, neither of these boys is entirely human either.

Overall I found myself totally immersed in the story of these characters.  I read the book in about two days, and will probably pick up the next book in the series.  If you are looking for a new YA series and don’t mind if the characters aren’t totally human, give this one a try.

Claim Me Giveaway from Romance at Random House

Romance at Random is giving away the following items:

• 10 books – CLAIM ME
• 10 books – RELEASE ME
• 5 eBook giveaway of A VAMPIRE’S SALVATION
• 1 Claim Me scarf (look alike) J

Enter to win

Love in Maine by Connie Falconeri

Let me start out by saying that I did not have high expectations for this book.  It is the most recent book supposedly written by characters on the soap opera General Hospital.  But it was also for that reason that I chose to read it since I’ve been a GH fan since the 80s.  The main characters of the story are Maddie Post, working in Blake, Maine for the summer based due to a bet with her brother, and Hank Gilbertson, the son of her landlord.  They start out as friends and end up having a summer fling with the knowledge that they will be separating at the end of the summer.  My original expectations were pretty much spot on as the book is pure fluff and only took me about six hours to read.  And I don’t think I really care enough to read the sequel which is supposed to be out in August or September.