Monthly Archives: February 2016

Worth the Trouble (by Jamie Beck)

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Contemporary Romance

Two years earlier Cat chose another man over Hank, a man who turned out to be violent and abusive. Now she has kicked him to the kerb but fate once again throws her a curve-ball. In quick succession she learns that for a model 28 is over the hill, and adding to her problems she is diagnosed with early onset menopause and will not be able to have children.

Despite that she is determined to forge a new path, to land on her feet. When Hank delivers a hand-made end table to her best friend, Cat sees her chance. She sets out to convince him to partner with her in a business making exclusive hand-made furniture. But with an ailing mother and a younger sister he is putting through college, money is tight and he can’t afford to risk what he has to follow his dreams.

Hank never did get over Cat, he is perhaps the only man who can see past her façade and into the vulnerable woman desperate not be a failure. He knows she is attracted to him but every time they seem to be getting closer she pulls away and she won’t tell him why.

If they are to have any chance, Cat will need to open up to Hank and risk her heart. Something she has never done before.

 

 
Jamie Beck writes fairly typical contemporary romance. She follows the rules of the genre and honestly I can name a few books that share the same basic plot as Worth the Trouble. I would also say they don’t do it as well as Jamie Beck.

The big names in Contemporary Romance, names like Jill Shalvis and Susan Elizabeth Phillips need to watch their backs. There is a new generation of writers who are making the genre their own, and Jamie Beck is one of them.

Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 4.24.20 PMMany thanks to Montlake Romance and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC

Orange, Red, Yellow. What it means:  YOR-Guide

Fire Touched (by Patricia Briggs)

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Urban Fantasy

Aidan, the Fire Touched was taken by Underhill many hundreds of years ago and has spent those centuries at her capricious whim. With the help of Zee and Tad he has managed to escape and run straight to the Tri-Cities –– to Adam, Mercy and the pack.

But the Fae don’t give up what they consider to be theirs’ easily and the Grey Lords send a troll to reclaim him. Adam and Mercy manage to defeat the troll but in doing so Adam is injured, leaving Mercy as the pack’s leader. With little thought for the ramifications she offers Aidan sanctuary, declares the Tri-Cities to be their territory, and threatens war with the pack to anyone who violates their borders.

For their part, the Grey Lords are divided, some would welcome a war, while others know that a war with the werewolves would have no winners. It is up to Adam and Mercy with the help of Zee to avoid a war while strengthening their claim to the Tri-Cities.

 
Fire Touched is one of the better of the more recent Mercy Thompson books. Mercy who has been shunned by some of the pack very much comes into her own in this book and finally gets the acceptance of those pack members who have avoided her, and for her part she fully embraces her place in the pack.

The book feels very much like the setting of a scene and ties in quite neatly with Dead Heat (Alpha & Omega Book 4). I’m not sure where the series is going from here, but I’m guessing something big is coming. Honestly, I’m champing at the bit to get the next in the series and I haven’t felt like that since Bone Crossed.  

Screen Shot 2015-11-28 at 6.44.49 PMMany thanks to Berkley Publishing Group & Netgalley for providing me with this ARC

Orange, Red, Yellow. What it means: YOR-Guide

From Russia with Fangs (by Jacey Conrad)

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Urban Fantasy 

After her husband is murdered in front of her, Irina the adopted daughter of a Russian gangster finds herself at the centre of plots and intrigue. The only problem is, she isn’t at the centre.

Let me explain.

 

 

 

 

 

 

From Russia with Claws (the first lines)

“Galina Sudenko scanned the sea of vaguely familiar faces. The cream of the crop had turned out in full force at Katya Bulgakov’s Sweet Sixteen party.”

From Russia with Fangs (the first lines)

“If the DJ played one more Russian bubble gum pop song, Irina Sudenko Volkov was going to stab him with a swizzle stick. Well, she would pay someone to stab him with a swizzle stick. Her father had people who did that sort of thing. Irina knew it was wrong to be in such a foul mood at a Sweet Sixteen party.”
So these two books are basically the same story being told from two different perspectives. Book one was Galina, and that was a story. I might have even rated it 5 Stars, I don’t really remember. Book two is Irina, she was a minor character in book one and honestly she’s not really a major player in this book either.

It’s weird reading the perspective of someone who isn’t even a witness to the major events of the story as laid out in book one.

From Russia with Fangs is OK in the same way a Chevrolet Malibu is an OK car. Nobody stops to watch one drive by. Nobody dreams of one day owning a Malibu. Honestly you could park one in a crime hot-spot with the keys in the ignition, the windows down and five bennys fanned out on the front seat…come back in an hour and it will still be there.

And that’s this book. The author is great. One of the best. There just isn’t enough of a story to make it worthwhile.

Screen Shot 2015-11-09 at 4.24.20 PMOrange, Red, Yellow. What it means:  YOR-Guide