REVIEW: Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl

Lead Me On by Victoria Dahl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


So I was going to save this for tomorrow, but I just finished Lead Me On.

Oh, wow. For a while it felt kind of boring, but man-oh-man did I end up loving it. With about fifty pages left, I kind of spaced out and wanted to give up. I am so glad I didn’t.

I want to marry Chase. I love this man.

The last two pages of the novel made up for every thing that was wrong with it (not that I can think of anything right now, because I am on a last two page high). It was so beautiful.

Jane could have easily been really annoying because she was a major snob. I thought it was funny, mostly because Chase kept calling her one. Her family was a mess. I really liked Mac, but not really her Grandma Olive, Jessie or her mom. *shrugs*

Chase was, well, he was perfect. Read the book. Discover him for yourself. If you don’t love him . . .

Plot was okay. There is a bit of suspense in each of the books in the Tumble Creek series. I didn’t really care for the suspense in this one. I did not care if Jessie went to jail. Greg was so creepy from the very beginning. Mitch was kind of strange, too.

The women that Victoria Dahl writes about must be pretty amazing in bed. They always have some previous lover lusting after them (well, at least I think Lori did. Molly definitely did. And given as I just finished Lead Me On moments ago, I can tell you Jane did).

I am really, really looking forward to the next series. Yay!



Overall: 4 Stars



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REVIEW: Playing Hardball by Madison Hayes

Playing Hardball by Madison Hayes

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


This was obviously a continuation of another story that I did not read. Not knowing the back story, I was so frustrated that I just finally put it down. I was so disappointed.

The finally straw was when the hero claimed that he did not spend time with his wife because he did not like other women?!? Um, what?!? You make sacrifices in relationships, especially marriages.

Additionally, the brothers being names Colt, Cord and Bolt was damn annoying. I kept forgetting who the hero was.



Overall: 1 Star



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REVIEW: His Voice, His Command: Naughty Nooners by Vonna Harper

His Voice, His Command: Naughty Nooners by Vonna Harper

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


Not only was this incredibly boring (28 pages, and it LITERALLY put me to sleep) but it was really poorly formatted – and I bought the epub straight from the publisher.

Not memorable, not interesting, not hot. Just lame and disappointing.



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REVIEW: Start Me Up by Victoria Dahl

Start Me Up by Victoria Dahl

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I really ended up enjoying this book.

I thought that Quinn’s problem of ignoring people was actually really funny. I loved that fact that when he concentrated on something he really did it well. And he LOVED to concentrated on Lori.

Lori was a great heroine. I liked her quite a bit. She was funny and understanding, but in no way was she a pushover. She was a bit of a snob though, but I thought it was funny.

Molly was 100% more likable in this book. She is definitely meant to be a supporting character. In this book she was still driving Ben crazy – I loved it!

One thing that kind of put me off – the hero and heroine never ended up exchanging I Love Yous. The book ended with Quinn telling Lori that he liked her a lot more than he liked buildings (for him that is practically I Love You). I am kind of on the fence about how I feel about this.

I finished this book with a smile on my face; I just wish there was more.

Overall: 4 stars.







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REVIEW: Talk Me Down by Victoria Dahl

Talk Me Down by Victoria Dahl

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Hmm . . .

I never really connected why Molly was so insistent about keeping her career a secret. She also lied about Cameron. That was really annoying.

I think it made sense at first, but once she started receiving threats and feeling watched she needed to tell the police who were investigating the distress – even if the police was her partner in “not dating” Ben.

I really loved Ben. He might be one of my most favorite heroes ever – definitely in at least a while! He was sexy and protective and funny. He trusted Molly and pushed her when he knew she wasn’t being honest. Ben is definitely the type of man I could fall in love with.

Just a heads up to those who are reading – this is definitely not a happy ending story; it was a happy for now book. Nothing against those kinds of books, sometime they even work a lot better. I thought the ending worked for Ben and Molly.

Next up in Lori and Quinn’s book. Weird. After re-reading Talk Me Down and being introduced to both characters, I would not have thought they would work. I am looking forward to checking that book out.

And for a bit of gripe: There was a very brief mention of a townsperson named Nick Larsen. Consider the hero's name was Ben Lawson, why were their names so close without actually meaning anything. I was so curious about that . . .



Overall: 3.5 stars



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REVIEW: Almost Perfect by Susan Mallery

Almost Perfect by Susan Mallery

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Okay, to start off I am going to review Almost Perfect as a stand alone book. I was originally thinking about it terms of the whole series, but really that isn’t fair to the book (or any book).

The hero of the story is kind of an idiot, and Susan Mallery does him no favors. Every time he makes a mistake or gets angry it is magnified. Meanwhile, unless it is disastrous, all his quiet good moments are “off screen.” Ethan finds out about Tyler, but the heroine (I suppose rightly) demands that he forgive her. She tried to tell him – twice! I understand that the situations were very complicated – Ethan turned his back on Liz; Liz found him “in bed” with Pia and later told his wife about Tyler, and Rayanne kept it all a secret; Ethan has a very difficult time blaming the dead. And he would also not freely throw his wife under the bus. Liz was a decent heroine. She saved her nieces from foster care. She had a lucrative career and survived a single mom. She is more or less someone to admire.

And I really enjoyed Liz’s relationship with Montana (my favorite of the triplets – though knowing they are triplets I imagine them all exactly the same and frequently confuse them).

That all being said – do any of your feel we actually read a romance? I felt that Almost Perfect was more about the reuniting of Ethan and Tyler, and how Liz must cope with that. I know that I did not read about Ethan and Liz falling in love (though, they may have still been in love from high school).

My absolute favorite part of this book was when Ethan and Liz first reunited and his mentioned how the characters she kills off in her novels have more than a passing resemblance to him – and he thinks it’s funny. What a charming moment!

After a number of disastrous Susan Mallery books, this one (actually this series) was a welcome surprise. I loved it.



Overall: 4 stars.



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Poor Shane! (And the rest of the OLTL and AMC Casts)

So as you may have noticed, I have more or less given up on commenting on soaps. To be honest, all this talk about One Life to Live and/or All My Children being canceled is really stressing me out. I really enjoy these two shows. I used to like As the World Turns and Guiding Light – that being said, I love the ABC soaps more.

If they were to be canceled I am not sure what I would do. I am also not sure which one I would save over the other. I love them both.

I do kind of (selfishly) wish that soaps would more to a half hour format and work with smaller, more focused casts. Even in a three hour block – that would be six soaps with six much smaller casts! I think that I might enjoy that a lot more.

Anyway, until comments are solidly made by ABC – either saving or *gasp* canceling OLTL or AMC – I am not going to think about it any more.

Maybe it’s me.

I am reading Olivia Cunning’s Backstage Pass. One of the readers I follow on GoodReads gave it a great rating, so I thought I would check out reviews. The first review I read said that it was free earlier this week. I immediately checked out the price from my distributor, and it was still free (to celebrate the release of her second book). Anyway . . .
This book is ALL sex. I can’t even think of a single moment that was not about having sex – and it is not just between the hero and heroine. It is just a little much for me.
That being said, it was a mass market book for average price originally. I really was not expecting this.
GoodReads readers rated this book really high.
I am sorry . . . but to me this does not compare to authors like Pamela Clare or Julie James. That being said, I have no finished and I will continuing reading it.

Romantic Notes

I hate spending more than $8.00 on a book. What can I say, I am cheap.

I hate when a book is advertised as "276 pages" and it is really "139 pages." I am talking to you, Wild Rose Press.

For someone who wants to be an indie author and who admires indie authors, I am very hesitant to step into that world.

Ebook publishers need to work harder on their covers. I mean, the future is in computer graphics. Please, step up to the plate here!

I do not want to waste my time reading a poorly edited book. Ever.

Don’t you hate when you read a summary and the book sounds amazing? I am talking about those times when the potential novel is only 13 pages long.

One of my biggest pet peeves (literally!): Animals playing an integral part in a romance.

I hate cougar novels. I don't want to see an older woman with a younger man. (The vice-versa is equally true.)

One time I took a chick lit book out of the library and thought it was a romance novel. It was early in the century and I was young and impressionable. To say that I was scarred for life is a bit of an understatement.

I have been known to detest a book based solely on the hero or heroine’s name.

I hate when people claim that a romance novel is predictable. I mean, you do know what the genre implies, right?

It took me three years to figure out what HEA actually meant. I knew it referred to the end of the book, but still . . .

An author should not be allowed to tease an upcoming book or specific storyline if they are not planning on writing it. It is 100% worse when the author takes a year off and then changes her name just to get away from having to follow through with the original plan. :::cough::: Geralyn Dawson/Emily March! :::cough:::

I like a series that has cohesive covers. I am not a fan when publishers change them midway through. (even when the change them for the better, like Rachel Gibson’s Writer Friends)

Shirtless men make me blush.

REVIEW: Body Check by Elle Kennedy

Body Check by Elle Kennedy

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


While not a bad story, I am just not sure the plot was meaty enough to keep my interest or for another re-read. It was a simple story with charming characters. I enjoyed Elle Kennedy’s writing and will probably read other work by her.

I really enjoyed how we were able to read about what the couple did on their dates (in terms of skating, museum, etc.). I thought it was a nice touch and showed how both characters were (though, not admitting to) willing to compromise.

And poor Hayden – I had the hardest time remembering her name. I kept wanting to call her Peyton. I thought that both the name and character of Brody Croft were far more memorable. What a sexy hockey player!

Re-thinking this story: Was Presley’s problems ever rectified? Who did Shelia end up with? Hmm . . . And there was an epilogue, too!

Overall: 3.5 Stars



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