Have you ever picked up an older book from one of your favourite authors and be disappointed? Now when I mean old and I don’t a year or two ago. I mean the book was published in the late eighties or early nineties.

 

Well this week I decided to crack down on my to be read pile. Let’s face it I’m not going to get rid of it any time soon. I have well over 850 mass paperback and another 100 or so hard covers and trade paperbacks. I’ll never be at a loss of reading material that’s for certain.

 

I picked up an old (1992) Victoria Pade book. I LOVE her books. I usually devour them within a week or so of purchasing them. I picked up this book in a used bookstore a while ago. Now the book was over all well written, I would expect no less. However it didn’t have the pizzazz that her new ones do.

 

What do you do when this happens to you? Stop reading, remove author from your favourite list, finish the book or just chuck it saying that everyone has a bad day an author is entitled to a bad book every few years?

Even though most romances are written by women I find that most of them don’t address issues that real women have in their lives. However there are some rare gems that do. In my opinion NIGHT PLAY does it very well. How? Well for starters the heroine is a solid size 18, which is close the average size for a woman. Clary has issues with her weight and body issues (like most women me included). This insecurity is amplified by being dumped by Taylor her boyfriend of 5 years. Enter Vane a were-hunter who falls for who she is full figure and all. It’s funny whenever she talks about loosing weight or not eating he reminds her he loves her the way she is and she should to. What woman in her right mind wouldn’t want a man like that?

 

Along with Vane comes the most dysfunctional family I have ever read about. I mean Ms Kennyon to kill each other repeatedly. Vane also discovers he has more siblings than he knew about. Fury is a new brother, I can’t wait to read his story. He’s going to need a heroine who’s going to kick his ass in a major way.

 

If you are in need of a good book where the characters are very relatable and well written then NIGHT PLAY is for you.

 

 

Morning Comes Softly is a reprint for Debbie Macomber, one of my favorite authors of all time. This book finds Travis, our hero responsible for his brother’s 3 young children. He lives alone on a ranch in Montana. He needs help. Our heroine, Mary, is a lonely librarian from Louisiana in need of change in her life. What change does she take on? Well she responds to Travis’s newspaper ad for a wife. After a few letters and phone calls, Mary packs up her life and moves to Montana. Together they forge a life for themselves and try to help the children deal with their grief of loosing loving parents.

Through trial and error they learn that love and forgiveness will heal all wounds. Also owning up to one’s error is the best way to live a guilt free life.

I found the characters believable and I could relate to. Ms Macomber always creates characters that are your typical neighbor. I love that about her books.  Travis and Mary are completely different but are in desperate need of each other. Together they are better individuals. I’d recommend this book to anyone in need of a good pick me up book.

Globe & Mail Bestseller

 

 

 

Passchendaele is the tale of Michael Dunne during the war.  It starts when he’s in Europe on a battlefield. He’s quickly shipped back home to Calgary where he is declared a hero and a deserter. During his stay in Calgary he meets and falls in love with Sarah a nurse who is addicted to morphine tablets. He helps her kick the habit before returning to the front where he fights for our freedom. It’s during the battle in Passchendaele that Michael looses his life in order to save Sarah’s brother David.

This book is the first book from Paul Gross, more known for his acting. I didn’t quite know what to expect from the book. Although there are romantic elements to this book it is in no way a pure romance. The war scenes are well described without being too graphic. As the reader you get to feel how they might have felt or what they might have smelled on the battlefields. I am so glad I picked up and read this book. Mr Gross might be most known for his portrayal of a hot Mounty on the show Due South, but I believe he has a strong talent to be a novel writer as well. I can’t wait to read his next book.

Is there anything I would have changed about this book? Not much. I would have made a slight change to the end. I would have loved to see Sarah have Michael’s child. I know that would have been very taboo for the time, but I also believe this war hero should have a legacy long after he died and a child would have been the perfect one.

So if you like a book that is well written, filled with great characters and events that will keep you reading then Passchendaele is the book for you.

Do I plan to go and see the movie adaptation of the book? You bet I do!

 

 

I read a wonderful book this last little bit, but surprise surprise it wasn’t a romance. KAITLYN WOLFE CROWN ATTORNEY does have romance elements in the story but it’s not a romance per say.  This is a great mainstream/drama book. It’s about Kaitlyn Wolfe’s life journey. It starts when she’s a teenager and the prejudice she had to face and then on through the college years and then after becoming an attorney.

What I liked most about this book is that the heroine proud of her heritage. She might be a minority but she doesn’t care. She plans on being the best she can be. She goes through ups and downs but always chooses the right road, not the easy one but the right one.

Ms Morrison has written a jewel of a book. If you enjoy great real characters then KAITLYN WOLFE CROWN ATTORNEY is for you.

Witch Blood is Isabelle Novak and Thomas Monahan. She’s a rebellious quick tempered water witch and thrives on chaos while he’s a fire witch who’s the head of the coven and thrives in a calm/controlled environment. They come together to put an end to the killing of witches by a demon. She wants revenge because they demon killed her sister and he wants the murders to end and kill the monster. What neither expects to find is true love.

 

This is the second book in the element series by Anya Bast. I picked up the first book Witch Fire and loved it. My expectations for this book were quite high. Ms Bast didn’t disappoint. I loved the interaction and dialogue between Isabelle and Thomas. We got to see and understand more of the coven life and the different witches who will be getting their own stories in the near future, hopefully. I’d have to say Witch Blood is a great second book in what’s sure to be a great series.

Guns Will Keep Us Together is Dakota Bombay’s story. He is a gun for hire, from a long line of family assassins. It seems that’s what the

Bombay’s do for a living. However Dak is about to meet his match in Louis, his 6 year old son he knew nothing about and Claire his love interest. However before they can all be a happy family Dak has a To Do assignment list to finish.

 I have to say I’m not a huge fan of first person POV. I did get a bit turned off at first when I discovered the hero to be an assassin. I seriously though of putting it back in my to be read pile after reading the back blurb. But I wanted to read something different and this book promised to be just that. I just didn’t know how different it would be. How’s that? Well it’s in the first person POV of Dak. Yep this is a romance in the POV of the hero from start to end. It took a bit to get used to it, but once I did I found it refreshing and captivating. Ms Langtry truly knows her readers and how to capture their attention and keep it. I hope to one day be able to do just that. I’m looking forward to picking up Ms Langtry’s previous books and her more recent release Stand By Your Hitman (Missi’s story)

 

Over the years I have read a lot of different romances in different genres in third and first person, but I finally read a book that was truly outside the romance box.  What do I mean by outside the romance box? Well not only was the book I read in the first person, not usually one of my favourites, but it was in the hero’s perspective from start to end.

It took me a while to get used to the first person and then it took more time for me to get the hang of the fact that it was in the hero’s POV. It was well written, but completely different from what I’ve ever read before. Some times different isn’t necessarily good, but this time it was. I truly loved the way he saw things and his sarcasm was quite refreshing. 

My question to you dear bloggers, have you ever read a romance in the hero’s perspective from beginning to end. Did you like it? How did you fell about the book?

Speak up I want to know.

I had been so looking forward to reading this last book in Ms Gibson’s great series, but I have to say this book fell a little short. NOT ANOTHER BAD DATE is about science fiction author Adele Harris and retired pro-football now high school football coach Zach Zemaitis. They were once college lovers who separated when Adele’s nemesis and Zach’s ex-girlfriend finds herself pregnant. They come back together fourteen years later when Adele comes back to town to help her sister and niece and Zach is a widow and single father to a teenager.

The dialogue sparkled and the sex scenes were hot hot hot. However there were a few things I had a problem with such as Zach having been unfaithful during his first marriage. Yes Devon, his first wife was a total bitch, but still his affairs tarnished his image as a hero to me. Also the inclusion of Devon as a secondary, but very important character after her death a little off putting. It’s completely different from what she’d done in the other books of the series. Also I found that Devon never grew even after her death she didn’t let go of her resentment to Adele. That alone left me wanting a better end. That said I’m glad I read the book. It was quite entertaining. I am looking forward to her next book.

 

 

This weekend I finished reading Susan Mallery’s SWEET series. I read SWEET TROUBLE. This is Jesse and Matt’s story. We find ourselves 5 years later and all the Keyes girls have children. Jesse comes back into town to introduce her son to his family and more importantly his father. Understandably Matt is furious that Jess truly did have his son and kept him from him. He plans to take his revenge by taking away the one thing that truly matters to Jess, their young son. What neither of them plans on is the love between them from 5 years ago is still smouldering and growing everything day they spend together.

I loved revisiting the Keyes’ lives 5 years later. What I found a little annoying was to fin Nicole still bitter and angry with Jesse, she simply wouldn’t let it go even when she admitted she believed Jesse never slept with her ex-husband.  That quickly became annoying. What I missed was Raoul, he was the teen who showed up in SWEET SPOT. He made a quick appearance but not long enough in my opinion. I’m hoping that means he and Brittany will each get a story of their own whether it’s together once more or separate ones.