Thursday, December 22, 2011

Zero at the Bone by Jane Seville

4 STARS

This book would have rated 5 stars from me but for one thing. The dialogue of one of the two main characters. 

The author writes D's dialogue as him having an accent... what one might consider an unschooled accent. Coulda... have ta... would a... cain't... It was extremely distracting and actually made things more difficult to read. I had to go back and read lines two, sometimes three times. In my opinion, the author had absolutely no need to lay it on so thick. Pick one or two words to establish that the character has a distinctive way of speaking and go with that. Were this a simple secondary or background character, it wouldn't be a problem, but not for one of the main guys!

That being said, the book was a great read. I loved both characters and how the author fleshed them out. I really appreciated that Jack couldn't just pooh-pooh away D's past, and I really enjoyed the fact that it took almost forever for D to open up to Jack. The story itself was good, the plot worked for me, a little far-fetched at times, but hey, I read Tom Clancy too. :) I could have done without that last case of D's, but I guess if the author is setting us up for a sequel, there needed to be a hook. It was kind of gruesome though. The romance was good and the sex scenes were steamingly hot. 

Will I read more of Jane Seville's work? You betcha! Will I recommend Zero at the Bone? You betcha! Like I said, almost a 5 star read!

Monday, December 5, 2011

It's Not Shakespeare by Amy Lane

4 STARS

Amy Lane has yet to let me down! 

I totally enjoyed this story, totally enjoyed the two MCs, totally enjoyed the few secondary characters we got to know - the only thing WRONG with it was that it was too short. I wanted more of James and Raphael... okay... Jimmy and Rafi. :) I want to know how they settle into their relationship, how they reconcile their differences and make it all work in the day-to-day. And Marlowe... damn, who wouldn't want more Marlowe??? :) I feel like we've only seen the first leg of this couple's journey and I hunger for more. 

Indeed, this was a delightful read!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Dance With Me by Heidi Cullinan

5 STARS

Oh man, this was wonderful!! I had to read this because it spoke of ballroom dancing and, well, ballroom dancing and Dancing With The Stars is one of my most favorite things ever. So I gave it to me as a birthday present. :)

I love Laurie. To bits. What a gem of a flawed genius of a man. I love Ed only a little bit, a wee bit less. Yes, I do play favorites. *LOL* I thought their love story was full and real and true and it didn't happen overnight, they grew into it. Grew into their need for each other - and it's a perfect, healthy, lovely need. Body and mind and soul. The intimate scenes are deadly hot and steamy and even just a kiss holds the ability to sweep the reader away. And the secondary characters are fully fleshed out real people. The parents, the friends, the students and business partners. Even those who just stepped on the stage felt true to me. (I would love to know more of Duon's story. *g*)

Heidi Cullinan is a lovely writer. She drew me in, made me love and care for her chararcters - all of them, made me see the locations and feel the atmospheres. I was there. If I only have one complaint it's this - I have the epub format of the book and the one problem is that the spacing between the changes of scene within the chapters are not obvious. Where I would expect what I would call a double line skip, there is none and I found myself pulled out of the rhythm of the story at the confusing POV transition. But you know, that's a pretty small problem to have. :)

A definite recommend and a definite reread!!!

The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters by Amy Lane

5 STARS

Knitting Series - Book 1

THIS has to be one of the most adorably fun stories I have ever read! And I want to know more about all of them! Rance, Ben, Ariadne, Aiden and Jeremy - EVERYONE! Absolutely delightful!