Living Promises by Amy Lane

5 STARS

Promises - Book 3

I absolutely loved this book. Again! I've loved all Amy's Promise books. 

I will admit to spilling more then a few tears over this one, but it was worth it. And I honestly think that Jeff and Collin are my favorites. :) 

As always, Amy has left me wanting more, more about ALL her lovely characters. A lovely, wonderful read!

Making Promises by Amy Lane

5 STARS

Promises - Book 2

This is the second of the "Promises" books - "Keeping Promise Rock" being the first. As soon as I finished the first one, I had downloaded "Making Promises" to my e-reader. I enjoyed "Rock" so much, I was pretty sure "Making" wouldn't let me down. 

And it sure didn't! If anything, I liked it more!

Okay, so I have a bit of a soft spot for a Russian Dancer with attitude, that may have had a little to do with it, but Mikhail and Shane's story is so much more than just Mikhail. It's about learning to trust, it's about believing in someone, it's about letting go when you're hurting the most in order to get something much better back. Again, Amy Lane writes the most deliciously flawed characters. That, I think, is what makes her books stand out for me. And her dialogue! She writes lovely dialogue; real men speaking, you know? 

As I did with the first book, I laughed, I swore, I cried; and when it was over, I was left with a wistful smile on my face wishing I were part of that lovely family at The Pulpit ranch, just outside Levee Oaks.

Keeping Promise Rock by Amy Lane

5 STARS

Promises - Book 1

This was more than a love story. It was a story about love, yes; but it was also about family, friends and at the risk of sounding cliché, the ties that bind. 

The story takes us through the story of two young boys growing up in a very small town in Northern California and shows us that sometimes love and passion just isn't enough. Carrick and Deacon are wonderfully drawn characters imbued with great attributes but also some near-fatal flaws - in other words, they are real, genuine folks. 

It's their story, yes, but the supporting characters are so damned real as well and it's heart-warming to read of the forming of an honest-to-God family, brought together by emotion, heart-ache, caring and yes, need. I was brought to tears more than once, I have to admit. 

And it's a romance, yes, there's sex scenes and yes, they're hotter than hot (the one in the barn was especially steamy), but what made them so much better was the way the author was able to infuse every action and reaction with an emotional meaning. And not necessarily a grand, sweeping, romantic meaning either! Carrick and Deacon are allowed to be silly and laugh together even when they're hot, horny and needy. They are real. 

I loved this book to itty-bitty bits and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone!

Kei's Gift by Ann Somerville

5 STARS

Darshian Tales - Book 1

Damn, I enjoyed this one! :) 

It started off a little slow as we got to know the characters, Kei and Arman as well as their friends and family who will play a big part in the coming story, but that was okay because this is really the story of how two young men grow into mature men. 

I only had two little problems with the story. The first was that I wanted to know more about Arman's father and brother. And the second was that I kept reading Arman as older than he was. I believe his stated age was around 24 or 25, but he read to me like a man closer to 30. Of course that might be due to the life he lead up to the point where the story begins. 

Now some might find that Kei, the gentle healer and Arman, the honourable young general, were a bit too good to be true, but you know, this is a romance and the characters NEED to be a little bigger and better than life. Both men DO have their faults and Ms Somerville explores them in depth. And the romance takes time to develop. This is sort of momentous for me, because most of the m/m romance novels I have read seem to be fast and quick and done with in little more than 100 pages. This book is a hefty, juicy read. No novelette here, my friends. And I love that about it. 

And the sex scenes... the intimate scenes... OMG, they were lovely! Y'all know that this is a major part of the reason we read romance/erotic romance novels, and in my opinion, Ms. Somerville does a TERRIFIC job. Arman's fixation with Kei's hair, for instance; even when it wasn't supposed to be hot, it was. :) And as always, my mind tends to cast actors in the major roles, so all the while I was reading, I was seeing Chris Hemsworth (who will be starring as Thor in the new movie) as Arman and Jesse Williams (Dr. Jackson Avery from Grey's Anatomy) as Kei. 

In conclusion, I really loved this book and would recommend it highly to anyone who's looking for a juicy, m/m romance - the fantasy angle of it, while important, doesn't overpower the lovely character studies or the love story. I will definitely be reading more of Ann Somerville's work, I can tell you that!

A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

4 STARS

All Souls Trilogy - Book 1

I bought this on a guts feeling. I kept seeing the book whenever I walked into our local Chapters store and it always caught my eye - then, when perusing the offerings of Kobo e-books, again, it kept catching my eye. I'm not big on the current trend of paranormal novels and romances, but this one's cover illustration didn't have the ubiquitous woman in leathers and all the shadowy stuff going on behind her, so finally I caved and bought the ebook.

Oddly, it was almost like reading two different books. The first half felt like a mystery that was taking its own sweet time about getting formed, and I have to admit that it took me a long while to warm up to the heroine, Diana. I'm still not entirely sold on her. One reviewer that I saw likened her to a Mary Sue and it's possible that this is one reason why. Honestly, she's my least favorite character in the book.

The other characters, however... :) 

The hero is scrumptious and the secondary characters are intriguing and fun and quirky and there had better be more of them to come.

The second half of the book reads like a romance, and that's okay. I like romances. And Matthew, the hero, is one sexy vampire, let me tell you. I think I would have liked a little more conflict between him and Diana vis-a-vis his vampiric past. Yeah, yeah, love and all that, but, I still wanted it to be a little more difficult for her. Now, I have to admit that this book hits a lot of my reading kinks. I love the cast of diverse characters that reluctantly come together in pursuit of a common goal, despite mutual distrust etc... I love the historical aspects of the book, all the incidents from Matthew's past delighted me no end. I also have a thing for secret councils and the like. And I loved the idea that so many incredible people from the past were what the author terms "creatures", ie: witches, vampires and daemons. (I'm loving the daemons, BTW.) 

You know what the second half of the book feels like to me? A good Nora Roberts. And I'm very fond of Nora Roberts. :) 

I had no idea when I bought the book that it was the first of a trilogy - I actually discovered that only yesterday! No wonder certain things are taking so long to resolve. In the end, would I recommend "A Discovery of Witches"? Yes, it's a good read and I ended up really enjoying it. (Maybe having no expectations when I started helped with that?) And will I purchase the second book in the trilogy? You betcha! My only hope is that I come to like Diana a little more.

Bittersweet by Madeleine Urban

3 STARS

Short and sweet. :) Those are the first words that came to mind when I sat down to pen my thoughts. Apparently this was Madeleine's first book published by Dreamspinner and I can see the difference between it and her later works. 

Bittersweet is an out and out romance with maybe an overtone of paranormal. The problem I had with it was that I wanted more. The main characters, Harrison and Piers, were nicely fleshed out and nicely unique in the world of m/m romance. (I was especially pleased that Harrison had a 'lightly furred' chest. I know, shallow, but it tickled - oh, bad pun - me.) 

There was a great plot here but I wished it had been filled out more. I wanted more interaction between Harrison and his son, I wanted more of the battle between Harrison and his soon-to-be ex-wife. I wanted to know more about Piers and the relationship he had with his best friend, Gerard. Okay, I just wanted MORE. 

The love scenes were hot - there was one kiss especially that was really, really well done - and despite the straying into purple prose' territory once in a while, I quite enjoyed them. All in all, a nice read for a quiet evening, but again, I think I'd have enjoyed it more if there had been more. That being said, Madeleine Urban remains as one of my most very favorite m/m authors.

Caught Running by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux

5 STARS

Loved, loved, LOVED it!

A Tale from de Rode by Abigail Roux

3 STARS

I wanted more of the story. :) But I really enjoyed it.

Forever by Jude Deveraux

2 STARS

Forever - Book 1

It wasn't as good as I was hoping it would be. 

I love Jude Deveraux's early books. Her "Highland Velvet" is my absolute favorite romance novel. But I have to think that ever since she began to venture into time-travel romance and paranormal romance, her quality has dropped off. 

I just didn't find her characters as likeable as they used to be. And the plot deserved to be thicker and juicier. 

I was just disappointed.

Northern Lights by Nora Roberts

4 STARS

This was Nate's book, not Meg's, and man, was that ever cool. 

One of Nora's biggest strengths is her wonderfully flawed, quirky, sexy, fully-fleshed out male characters; and with Northern Lights she finally gave the man a starring role. 

Depressed and broken Nate arrives in Alaska and finds a reason, a multitude of reasons, to not give up. That's the gist of it, in a nutshell. But Nora does it in such a way that it's an incredibly entertaining read. This book wasn't so much about the romance and the hot sex - yes, there was some, but it was by no means the focal point of the story. Nor was the growing relationship between Nate and Meg. It was the story of Nate making himself a place. 

Going from 'Outsider' to belonging and becoming more or less at peace with his past. Some of my favorite scenes were Nate interacting with his deputies, Otto and Peter, and his office manager/dispatcher/aide-de-camp, Peach. How they all came to like and respect one another despite suspicions and events getting in the way. 

Other favorite scenes included Nate constantly butting heads with the natives and long-time residents of Lunacy as he spends his first long night of winter as the town's police chief. Wonderfully colourful and endearing characters, a beautiful setting, a mystery that kept me wondering until the very end; Northern Lights was a juicy and fun read and left me with a big smile on my face. 

Yeah, Nate and Meg got their happily ever after, but the more satisfying end was that Nate allowed himself to heal and make a new and better place for himself.