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Book Blog, What I'm Reading Wednesday

I’m Reading the One Week Girlfriend Series by Monica Murphy

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<12345>You know my latest reading trend has been New Adult sports romances . . . I tore through Cora’s Rusk University books, Sarina’s Ivy Years, Kristen Callihan’s Off Campus books. . . and my next logical step was Monica Murphy’s series.

To be honest, as I always am with you, it took me a while to get into book 1. I didn’t feel like I could relate to either character until about halfway through the book. I’m happy to say I persevered and was glad to see improvement in all areas in the subsequent books.

Last night I made it to Four Years Later. I wasn’t sure how I’d like it, but wow! It was my favorite yet, and I just fell totally and absolutely in love with Owen and Chelsea. I couldn’t put it down.

Owen is a flawed character for sure–the younger brother of the female lead from One Week Girlfriend. Owen’s messing with drugs, drinking too much, letting his grades slip and getting suspended from the football team–and lying to his big sister about their no-good mother showing up again in his life. Still, we know Owen cares; he’s struggling to do the right thing, even when it feels way too hard.

As I’ve said here before–girls in college, if you want to get yourself a hot athlete boyfriend, be a tutor. Because once again, that’s how uptight and super-smart Chelsea–a girl with secrets of her own–meets Owen. She knows he’s not what she needs, but that doesn’t matter–because he’s what she wants.

They go through the typical ups and downs, but as always in these books, there’s a healthy realism. Chelsea and Owen struggle with their demons, but ultimately, they realize that they’re stronger together. (Everyone now, say it: awwwwwww . . .)

Now I did discover there is a follow-up book to their story, called Five Days Til You. I’m not sure I can handle it–I don’t like more angst for my people after they’ve made it to their happily-ever-after. But you know I’ll read it anyway.

If you haven’t delved into any of these series, I encourage you to check them out–great writing, awesome stories and amazing characters. What more can you ask?

Book Blog, What I'm Reading Wednesday

I’m Reading All Played Out by Cora Carmack

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I’ve been waiting for this book for freakin’ ever, so it had major expectations to meet. And it did. Oh, baby, did it.

Nell is Dylan’s roommate (Dylan, female lead of All Broke Down). And anyone reading these books knows that Mateo Torres is the house clown–the one about whom everyone laughs and shakes their heads. He’s also a bit of a manwhore.

Nell on the other hand is focused and driven–school and her career are it for her. After a bad bout of the lonelies, she decides to experiment and try out ‘real’ college life before she graduates. To that end, she makes a list and sets about to check off the items.

Accomplishing this task puts our girl squarely in the path of sexy Torres. . .and he falls hard. How he wins her skittish and reluctant heart is spun sweetly and with earnest realism; we see Nell yearning and pulling back while Torres exercises admirable patience and depth as yet unseen in his character.

I love when an author takes a side character we assume we knew–whom we had stereotyped–and brings him out, makes him 3-D and deep. It’s a good reminder that when we pigeonhole people, we’re doing them and ourselves a disservice.

My one and only complaint about this book is that Stella’s story, which I’ve been waiting impatiently to read, isn’t up for preorder yet. EARLY 2016!!! Gah, I’ll wither away and die before then. (Not really. At least, I hope not.)

If you haven’t read The Rusk University books, RUN and get them all. Right now. Go on, shoo. And read them, and then come back and thank me. ‘Cause I know you will.

Book Blog, What I'm Reading Wednesday

I’m Reading The Mistake by Elle Kennedy and The Friend Zone by Kristen Callihan

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I was trolling the ‘Zon last week when lo and behold, I saw that The Friend Zone by Kristen Callihan had been released! I gobbled it up–you might remember that Kristen wrote The Hook Up which I’d found earlier this year. I was so excited to read this book, and it didn’t disappoint. I absolutely loved the relationship between Ivy and Gray and the easy way it developed. Both were well-rounded, believable characters, likable and real. I was thrilled with the bumps along their way and how they were resolved. It was a story worthy of the huge hangover it gave me.

I sighed as I finished, flipping back onto the home screen of my Kindle, and I blinked in surprise and then glee–because there was The Mistake by Elle Kennedy, the follow up book to The Deal. It was like a miracle . . . a reader’s miracle.

While I was enjoying it, though, I was surprised to come across a familiar name from another book. Drew Baylor? But he was a character in The Hook Up. I loved it, though–characters crossing worlds. How cool! So imagine how giddy I was when I reached the end of the book and found out about a very cool Facebook group that lets fans of some of my favorite authors hang out and chat!

The Locker Room celebrates the books and characters of Cora Carmack, Elle Kennedy, Kristen Callihan, Monica Murphy and Sarina Bowen. It’s a dream come true.

So to recap: this week’s books were both excellent follow-ups to the fabulous first books. Both were deep and sassy love stories, deep and realistic characters, men who make us all go ga-ga and women who are more than capable of kicking a little ass.

What could be better? So glad you asked. All Played Out, the Rusk University book I’ve been waiting for over the last months, finally hit my Kindle last night. You know what we’ll be discussing next Wednesday.

Sigh.

Signed,

One Really Happy Reader

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I’m reading The Liar by Nora Roberts

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I’ve been a Nora Roberts fan for a very long time. My favorites have always been her trilogies, whether they’re the romance with paranormal twists books or straight romance, but of course I enjoy her annual hardback romantic thriller releases, too.

The Liar was a book that intrigued me. I was excited to read it and see if it lived up to the hype. The first few chapters were. . .slow. Now whether they really were or whether my perception of them was colored by my recent new adult romance reading, I can’t say. I do know that although the story was building, slow but sure, it wasn’t quite gripping me yet.

The shift came when the female lead, Shelby, returned with her young daughter to her family and home in the mountains of Tennessee. Here the story not only picked up pacing, the heart of the tale began to beat. There was such connection between Shelby and her family and friends,and their community, that it became almost another character in the story.

Of course, the love story didn’t hurt either. Griffin was a leading man worthy of the title, and his part never faltered.

One of the things I’ve always loved about Nora Roberts is that she doesn’t fall into trite traps in her books. We might anticipate the fight that’s going to alienate the romantic leads, but Nora derails it before it happens. She takes another route and leads us to the inevitable conclusion with finesse and style.

This book was no different when it came to the love story, but the thriller part was fairly predictable. No spoilers here, but I’d called the main situation before I reached the halfway point in the book, and I’m frankly surprised no one in the story itself did, too.

Happily, as in all of Nora’s books, the excellent writing, heart-melting love story and fabulous characterization trumps any weak plot lines. I enjoyed this book; it lingered on my mind for days afterward, and I can gladly recommend it.

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I’m Reading The Shameless Hour by Sarina Bowen

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We’ve been playing with a theme here the last week or so: strong females, sexuality and how it’s all portrayed in contemporary literature, more specifically in New Adult romance. The book I’ve been reading over the last week is a perfect example of how that’s done well.

You might remember I read the first two Ivy Years books last month and really enjoyed them. I was thrilled to see this new installment come out in April, but since it didn’t involve the main characters from the first two, I was a little worried. Happily, the story was so good and the characters so very engaging that I was immediately captivated. But what drew me in even more was one of the main themes of this novel: healthy sexuality and the role of shaming in our culture.

Bella, the female lead, is an unabashedly sexual character. It’s clear early on that she’s perfectly comfortable with her own body, with her sexuality and with a series of partners. She’s the hockey team’s manager, and she’s definitely more at home with men than she is with girls; we notice that she doesn’t really have any female friends, and the attitudes of the hockey girlfriends are less than warm. Still, the fact that Bella doesn’t feel shame–and in fact celebrates her choices–makes the reader comfortable with her, too.

When she encounters her upstairs neighbor Rafe needing some cheering up, Bella does what comes naturally. His response–or Bella’s perception of it–in the weeks that follow shake her convictions, but what happens next nearly destroys her life. I won’t spoil it, but the way the author weaves this story, subtly showing how easy it is to jump to judgement in situations we don’t understand, is remarkable and extremely well-done.

The juxtaposition of Bella’s open sexuality and that of the men at her school, and how both of those are perceived by others, is eye-opening. (More on that Thursday.)

From a strictly-story point of view, this was fabulous. The love story is gently developed, with believable ebbs and flows. Bella’s evolution and maturity is also nicely done, and I’m excited that one of the related characters will have her own story! (Yay! More Ivy Years!)

If you haven’t tried these books yet, I highly recommend them. Actually, I can’t say enough good about them. One click ’em now.