Regina
I didn't like the story as much as I did the first in the series. At times I felt the urge to take the characters and shake some sense into them. Not only Spencer and Emily, but some of the assorted family members as well.
Also, some typos and grammar issues were at times distracting.
Still, it was a nice read.
What a great title! The hero Al (the turtle in question) as well as his posse really grew on me. Since this is the first book of the series I have read, it was good to get a bit of the backstory for them. I felt that I got to know the main characters pretty well over the course of the story.
The secondary characters did not get as much love, they were often only introduced by name, but in many cases no further characterization followed, which got a bit confusing with the number of biker gangs, cartels and whatnots involved...
Which brings me to the fast-moving plot, which had a couple more twists and turns than I felt were strictly necessary to make an entertaining read, and I really didn't need know as much cartel history as was provided.
At the moment, I am still undecided if I want to read more books in the series (or by this author, in general).
Cute, has its funny moments. :)
Not a big fan of insta-love (from cute meet to marriage proposals in record time), so I somehow liked the story of Ellen + Jim's engagement and wedding better than the premise of the main storyline.
I also couldn't quite get my head around Charlie's assumption that “Cowboy” ALWAYS equals “irresponsible risk taker” - disclaimer: I'm not from Texas, so maybe things are different there? ;)
The family dynamics were fun (including Lily, though not techincally family), and I also liked Charlie's flatmate.
A bit irritating was the POV change within scenes without a visible marker to indicate that we're suddenly seeing things from Charlie's perspective when we started the scene in Davis's POV, and vice versa. That might be a formatting problem of the Kindle version, though, I don't know if it's better in other editions.
3.5/5
First off, I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed this story a lot more than I thought I would.
That sounds probably awful, but considering that the story uses some of the genre tropes I have grown extremely wary (and weary) of, it might be understandable.
Our hero is “The Wealthy CEO”, and beautiful to boot, our heroine is “The Plucky Redhead” with oh-so-wild hair... - my eyes were basically rolling even before the story had properly started.
BUT. The author actually pulled it off to make the (main) characters likeable, and the story is beautifully written.
Especially during the first half of the book I found myself smiling a lot (sometimes even laughing out loud). For the first part, I would have given this book at least 4 stars.
It's funny, it's romantic, it has some witty dialogue and it doesn't need graphic sex scenes.
By far the biggest issue I had with the story was Justine's sub-plot. That one had a pretty high ickiness-factor and is one of the reasons why I didn't give a higher rating. Also, I might have liked her character more if her story hadn't developed the way it did.
I would have preferred the story to be mostly about Delia and Jack, with some Gus and family drama thrown in. That would have been sufficient for me.
Gus changing her name later was pointless in my opinion (it did nothing for the story, and I felt it didn't help her “growing up”, rather the opposite). So... why?
On top of that, I didn't care at all for the epilogue (although I know that there are many readers who liked it a lot).
Will I read more books by this author? I most probably will. (I did mention the beautiful writing, didn't I?)
This one is really difficult for me to rate.
The story doesn't fit my usual MO, I generally prefer lighter reading - though I can't and won't hold this against the author or her story. :)
I'm maybe not quite as far from American corporate culture as you can get, but I'm solidly in a very different place on the work spectrum. So some of the concepts in the book are rather alien to me. I've never been one to aspire to a traditional “career” (whatever that means), coveting the proverbial corner office, breaking through real or imagined glass ceilings, getting a certain job title... nope. That's just not me.
So some of the described situations, especially the inspirational(?) talks for the women's group, felt really weird to me.
Like other reviewers, I don't get the complete 180° from “Richard is the Anti-Christ” to “Richard is the hero” in a relatively short time-frame, considering he's acted like an immature douchebag for the past 15 years. While I liked the description of Tara and Richard turning from enemies to frenemies to friends, I don't understand the sudden change in behaviour.
Sorry, Richard.
I also don't know why Tara makes such a big fuss about a tattoo and a motorbike. Are these supposed to be warning signs that the guy turns out to be dangerous later on? While I personally don't see anything wrong with either ink or bikes (c'mon, guys, this is the 21st century where it's rather uncommon if you don't sport a tattoo or three...) - if it's such a big deal for Tara, I would have liked it better if the supposed hero came with lots of perceived red flags (instead of the douchebaggery), just to prove Tara's prejudices wrong. But that's just me, I guess.
Another thing: What's with all the gasping? And the designer shoes (his and hers)?
Aside from me just not “getting” the story (I apologize!), the book was well-written, and I actually did finish it, compared to many books I've given up on.
Will I read other books by this author? Yes, I'd give them a shot.
Cute storyline with unexpected twists, (mostly :) ) likeable characters (Paige!) and beautiful writing.
Fun sequel to Trudy, Madly, Deeply. :)
More small town life with the quirky cast of characters we got to meet in book #1.
The whodunit may not be all that surprising, but I enjoyed following Charmaine on her way to solving the case.
Note from the Cookie Monster: It would be awesome if the ribbon-winning cookie recipes were also on http://www.wendydelaney.com/fun-stuff/ ;)
A fun and entertaining story.
I couldn't relate to the main characters much, though, and I found myself skipping some passages.
Instead, I'd liked to have read more about Bill and how he took on Meyer's mercs. Ah, well. :)
Disclaimer: I received this ARC for an honest review.
Set in a highly immersive world based on Norse mythology, this story seems to combine elements of various Norse legends. The archaic language took some getting used to, but it is fitting for the tale being told.
It was a bit darker than my usual “for fun” reads, and while the body count is nowhere near GoT: you might not want to get too attached, your favourite characters might not survive all those battles. At least mine didn't.
Speaking of characters: We get enough backstory for the major characters to get a pretty good picture of who they are, “warts and all”, and where one or the other chip on a shoulder may come from.
This is the first book I have read by this author, but I already have two more on my Stack of Unread Books, and I'd definitely like to read more stories set in this world in general, but especially about the runeblades.
“May all your days be drenched in blood and bereft of joy.”
Yep. That quote sums it up quite nicely.
Let me get the usual disclaimer out of the way first: I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This second story in the Runeblade Saga is taking place one year after the events depicted in Days of Endless Night. In this tale, we meet old friends and new foes alike. Especially foes, lots of them, and even bigger and badder than in part 1 of the Saga.
The fast pace keeps the story moving pretty much from battle to bloody battle, with the occasional flashback to Starkad's past.
With all the bloodshed, dark magic, and even more glimpses into Starkad's backstory, Days of Bloody Thrones felt even darker than Days of Endless Night (sic!). And though this was moving quite solidly into fantasy/horror territory at times (and to be honest, I am squeamish), I enjoyed learning more about Hervor, Starkad, and their companions and I'm actually looking forward to reading more of their adventures.
Which brings me back to the initial quote: This read was certainly drenched in blood, but not bereft of joy - for me. :)
3.5 / 5
Third book in the series, but first I have read. It worked mostly well as a standalone, though I did have some problems at first getting the group of friends sorted out. (Was it Mara or Mae now? Which was which again? That kind of stuff...)
I liked the characters, and I liked how the story and the relationship between the hero and heroine developed. Bonus points for Justin not meddling with the artsy stuff, and also for Zoe's circle of girlfriends. And the sunroof. And the cake. ALWAYS the cake. :)
Books #1 and #2 are now on my TBR list. :)
Somewhat off topic, and has no impact on either the story or my rating:
I did get hung up on the horse related details a bit, e.g. Cisco is described as a “brown and white Paint” - by Zoe, who is definitely a non-horsey person. So... is he actually a chestnut paint (since no black in mane or tail etc. is mentioned), or is he a bay or indeed (dark) brown paint? ^^ Or the word ‘harness' was used for what I would call a halter. Or Justin would tie the horses' reins (!) to a tree or something - which is a no go for me because of possible injuries. (And yes, I am weird to overthink these things so much. )
Cute and sweet story, Beckett is a likeable hero (can you ever go wrong with a Canadian hero?), Aubrey is at times a bit... ‘annoying' would be too strong, but she'd get on my nerves a bit (‘I'm not a size 2'). Though that might just be me. What I liked about her was her no-filter rambling and her relationship with Livy.
Towards the end, I skimmed a bit over all the repetetive mentions of how much they loved each other (“But I love you more.” - “No, I love you more!” (I paraphrase, but not much...), and how happily Aubrey said or did pretty much everything.
I am sad to say that, somehow, this story fell a bit short for me.
Part of it may have been the number of typos - I get easily distracted by things like that. Especially when the heroine is supposed to be immersed in pop culture and geekdom, but then “Wookiee” is misspelled. Just. No.
Another part of it was that I couldn't relate all that much to the main characters.
I really wanted to like Harper (hello, fellow nerd girl!), and some scenes worked really well for me and were a lot of fun to read! And because I wanted to like Harper and her story so much, my disappointment was even bigger with the scenes that fell short.
What I liked about Harper and Stryker and their story was how they became friends first, lovers later, despite Stryker having a bit of a one-track mind. Yes, I get it, he's a guy, but simply wanting to get into the heroine's pants is not what makes a great romance hero (again: for me, YMMV).
Also, another pet peeve of mine: I'm a bit tired of the bad boy/tattoo stereotype. Ink does not equal “bad boy” (whatever that means) nor does every so-called bad boy need at least some ink to be a member of the bad boy's club. (Why the ink? What kind of tattoos? What meaning do they have for Stryker? If they're important, what' the story? If they're not important, why mention them at all? Did I miss something here?)
Overall, it was a cute read, but not my favourite story in the series.
A really cute and enjoyable read - I'll definitely want to read more about Tom, Amy and the crew at ACME! :)
The Runeblade Saga continues...
Disclaimer first: I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I've been looking forward to this third instalment of the Runeblade Saga ever since I finished Days of Bloody Thrones, and Matt Larkin did not disappoint.
Overall, Days of Frozen Hearts didn't feel quite as dark as Bloody Thrones, and rather closer in “spirit” (ha!) to the first book in the series, Days of Endless Night.
Again, Hervor and Starkad get to travel to a land of legend - this time they venture into Jotunheim, home of Giants and vargar, where they have to battle ghosts and fire vaettir before they can claim their prize, Skofnung.
In a secondary story arc, an old friend/foe continues his quest for revenge, and (ab)uses Ecgtheow/Tiny - who really grew on me in Bloody Thrones - to start a war for his own ends.
Looking forward to the next book in the series!
Cute and geeky - bonus points for the pop culture references, especially the IT crowd! <3
I liked both the main characters as well as the supporting cast, and I'd love to read more about Gia (and her Nonna!).
Some scenes had me laughing out loud - always a plus, especially when I'm on the train or subway :-p )
I've been really looking forward to this book - Joe has been a favourite ever since he turned up in Invertary, and I fell in love with Julia in ‘Reckless'.
Their story did not disappoint. It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it called for a big dose of chocolate! :)
I like the blend of suspense, comedy and romance, and I really love the cast of characters and how well they work together (or not).
Like in JEH's other books, it's the little details that make this story really come to life.
On the technical side, there were some minor proof-reading issues, though not enough to distract from the story.
So... when's the next book coming out???
This one is a bit difficult to rate. I really wanted to like the story more than I did.
While the writing is good, I couldn't relate to the heroine. At all. She seemed whiny, self-absorbed, and superficial, and it was hard to understand why any of the good guys would fall for her.
Some of the antics were funny - for the first time. But repeat performances of heavy drinking as well as idiotic choices in footwear and men and the resulting sob-fest got old really quickly.
Sorry, not my cup of tea.
Since the writing was good, I won't rule out reading other books by this author, though.
I had a lot of fun with this book! I really liked the characters, especially the easy banter between Anne and her daughters.
Was the storyline predictable? Sure. Then again, about 99.9% of chick lit / romance novels are, I have no problem with that. Au contraire, the HEA is why I read these books. :)
4/5 because some things felt a bitMary Sue-ish (the whole presentation thingy), and the story could have been a bit shorter.
It had its moments, but sometimes I felt like slapping Chanel upside the head.
Also, the mystery wasn't all that mysterious.
Still, overall it was an entertaining read.
Not sure if I want to read more books in the series, though.
DNF at... 62%? It's hard to say, because somewhere around the middle I started to only skim over Stella's storyline and only read the “good” bits (Will's disastrous dates, for example).
I found the story (as far as I read, at least) slightly depressing, plus, I really didn't like to read about Julian.
I did like Will, though (yay! another geeky hero!) and I also liked Stella's interactions with her friends.
On the technical side, there were a couple of proofreading issues, also the formatting looked a bit weird on my Kindle (Chapter would start at the bottom of a new page).
This is the first book I have read by this author, and I'd probably want to read samples of other books by her before I go ahead and buy them.
