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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 . . . some New Adult Romance

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This is a fine thing, indeed. It’s What I’m Reading #Wednesday, and honestly, in the last week, I’ve been unhappy with what I’ve read.

I blame Colleen Hoover, Cora Carmack and Ginger Scott. Their last books were so good, I’m getting spoiled.

I’m happy to report, however, that last night, while trolling the ‘zon and iBooks for something . . . anything . . . I found out that Sarina Bowen’s new book, The Shameless Hour (The Ivy Years Book 3) went live last week.

Booyah!

Next week, I promise I’ll have more to report. But why have the other books I’ve been reading (which I will not name; we’re all entitled to our points of view!) not been cutting the mustard? It’s been a few things.

First, the characters are not memorable. They’ve been lackluster, wishy-washy and too capricious. One girl couldn’t make up her mind about anything, and that made me nuts. Another whined. No. Just no. Second, the storylines were unbelievable, and while I’m more than ready to suspend my disbelief, you’ve got to give me something to work with. Anything. Third, and this is a big one, some of the books I read this week were poorly edited. It wasn’t typos or missed words so much as my own personal bugaboo: words misused. One series I read had so many words used in the wrong context that I wanted to scream.

“No, you didn’t withhold the sobs threatening to escape!” I raged. “You held them in. You swallowed them. You bit them back. That word doesn’t mean what you think it does.”

On the other hand, I did read all three books–partly out of desperation and partly out of a morbid curiosity to see how the author brought it all together. So maybe it’s understandable that others read them, too.

The good news is that May is bringing me all sorts of book deliciousness. If only I can hold out that long . . .

Book Blog, Perfect Dish Romances

#Wednesday Meme: What Am I Reading? What am I Writing?

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“Maybe this is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find words for what we already know.”
Alberto Manguel, A Reading Diary: A Passionate Reader’s Reflections on a Year of Books

 

It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time to talk about what I’m reading and what I’m writing. Because nothing happens in a vacuum, least of all writing.

What I’m reading now: Blood Magick by Nora Roberts. It’s the third book in her latest trilogy. Once upon a time, Nora released these types of books more often, sometimes within a few months of each other. Her last few, though, have come out over a long stretch of time, and I find that difficult. I read so many books between-times that I have a hard time remembering what happened in the first two.

pjelT0EsThis particular trilogy has been a little more difficult for me, too. I love setting–Ireland–and the premise: three witches, two siblings and one cousin–who come together at the right time to fight against a particularly dark evil that has attacked their family over generations. For me, it’s the characters who are falling just a little flat. Don’t get me wrong: I’m enjoying it, just perhaps not quite as much as I have some of Nora’s other trilogies. Still, reading Nora is always a pleasure, and since she does release less often these days, I’m savoring every word.

I do have to say that I just finished Cora Carmack’s latest release All Broke Down, a Rusk University novel. I’d enjoyed the first one so much that I couldn’t wait for this new book–and I wasn’t disappointed. As a matter of fact, I think I enjoyed this book even more than the first. If you like New Adult romance, you’ll love this one. Especially if you also like football. . .and football players.

What I’m writing now: I’m working on I Choose You, the third book in the Perfect Dish Duo. Yes, I know: a third book in a duo is clearly messed up. But I Choose You is a sort of bonus book: it’s the story of two weddings involving the characters in the first two books, Best Served Cold and Just Desserts. I’m having a blast spending more time with these characters. The book releases December 21st, just in time for Christmas.

See what other people are reading by checking out the links on Literary Addicts here. Happy reading!