* * *Books* * *
Books bought / ordered: (most of them thanks to a gift certificate)
Tori Carrington – Restless
Simone Elkeles – Perfect Chemistry
Kristin Hardy – Always Valentine’s Day; Her High-Stakes Playboy (2 in 1): Certified Male; U.S. Male
Larissa Ione – Desire Unchained
Carolyn Jewel – Scandal
Julie Anne Long – Like No Other Lover
Anne McCaffrey – The Rowan
Sophie Kinsella – Can You Keep a Secret?
Lisa Kleypas – Blue-Eyed Devil
Linnea Sinclair – Hope’s Folly
Anne Stuart – Cold As Ice; Ice Blue; Ice Strom; Fire and Ice
A. N. Wilson – The Victorians
Books read:
Connie Brockway – All Through the Night (TBR Challenge; 3,5/5)
romantic suspense (“Redstone, Incorporated” series; #9)
Backstreet Hero is a solidly written story with likable characters and a romance between an older woman and a younger man. Because it’s in Silhouette’s romantic suspense line, there’s a mystery concerning attacks on the heroine. The hero is there as her bodyguard but they know each other for some years now because they both work at “Redstone, Incorporated” and the hero was half in love with the heroine from the moment he first saw her.
Only quibbles: the Redstone cheering was a bit much and I really would like to read a straight contemporary from Davis again because she’s good at writing believable relationships between characters with common sense. A decent read (3,5/5).
I loved the first chapter and the story told in this novel. I loved the hero and I loved the heroine’s struggle with the question of “power.” I “loved” what happened with a secondary character because it was surprising and it definitely wasn’t what one would expect. And yet, this was all more a cerebral appreciation than an emotional one. I didn’t feel connected to the story and, at times, to the heroine. In light of that discrepancy (cerebral – emotional) I think that this is probably a case of it’s-not-the-book-it’s-me and I’ll probably need to read Scandal again to figure out what it’s going to be.
Sophie Kinsella – Can You Keep a Secret? (3,5/5)
Sophie Kinsella – Remember Me? (4/5)
Caroline Linden – What a Rogue Desires (3/5)
Kathleen O’Reilly – Nightcap (4/5)
Anne Stuart – Black Ice (5/5)
romantic suspense (“Ice” series, #2)
Cold as Ice started off strong. Although not as tightly written as Black Ice, I enjoyed reading it. I liked the hero’s and heroine’s interaction and I really liked that the heroine wasn’t floored the first time she saw the hero. It was only later, when the heroine edged too close to being stupid with her argumentative streak, that I lost some of my interest and Cold As Ice went from being a really good read to a good read. (4/5)
J. R. Ward – Lover Eternal (Re-Read Challenge; 4,5/5)
Favorite novel:
Anne Stuart – Black Ice
New-to-me authors: Sophie Kinsella, Carolyn Jewel
New-to-me authors I would read again: Sophie Kinsella, Carolyn Jewel
* * *Games* * *
Games bought:
Persona 3: FES
Games played:
Puzzle Quest (PS2)
Comments: Games
I’m stuck at one of those damn chase sequences in Prince of Persia: Warrior Within so this game didn’t get much playtime this month. I just can’t get the timing right to make it past that point in the game. Grrr. I mostly played Puzzle Quest.