Santa Wore Leathers by Vonnie Davis

The Basics:
Santa Wore Leathers by Vonnie Davis
HarperImpulse
Romance
Published November 28, 2013

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb:

Take one man-shy reporter, a gorgeous ex-Navy SEAL turned firefighter, add in a thong-stealing dog… and Christmas will never be the same again!
There’s only one thing on Becca Sinclair’s Christmas list this holiday season – her very own column in the local paper. And if she can build a huge blog following, her wish just might come true.

Enter Dan ‘Wolf’ Wolford aka the man-whore next door and the new star of Becca’s popular, post-divorce blog about men. A Navy SEAL turned commander of the Florida Marine Rescue Unit, Wolf’s the very definition of the word alpha – and with an endless rotation of women on his doorstep, this hunk on a Harley has Becca and her female followers all hot and bothered!

All Becca wants for Christmas is her newspaper column, right? But when she finds herself the target of Wolf’s irresistible attentions, her snarky comebacks become less and less convincing and, suddenly, she’s not so sure anymore…

Why I picked up this book:

I was looking for some light sexy fun, and this sounded like it had some potential!

My thoughts:

First things first, I have a love-hate relationship with this cover.  I love the gorgeous guy with a dog and Santa hat. I love the color scheme. I hate that the line at the top of the book cuts through the guy's chin. I have to stare at it every time, as though it's a seriously demented cleft chin.

This novella-length book was really inconsistent, I thought, in terms of how Becca and Wolf treat/talk to each other at any given moment. One second they're arguing, the next discussing their families, then back to arguing again.

I also found the hot button issue of Becca being a reporter, and Wolf's reaction to that. really offputting. It was so blindly angry and because it came *after* he'd already started trying to get to know her.... I really thought he should have been smarter than to lump all reporters together without any kind of action on Becca's part to support his concerns.

I did like the ways in which Becca's first impressions of Wolf were turned upside down. And I liked that Wolf pursued her - nothing hotter than someone who knows what they want and is willing to put themself out there to get it.

I think that the motorcycle side could have been leveraged a bit better - perhaps only in a longer story though. I almost would have preferred to have the book start with the parade and Santa wearing leathers and move forward from that very sexy moment.

Bottom line:

An average romance novella with a holiday theme, some cute neighbour moments and a lot of odd arguing-not-arguing moments. Very hot and cold, I wanted to like this but it found the back and forth too jarring to enjoy.

2.5 stars
For fans of Christmas-themed romances, neighbour romances.

Stacking the Shelves (Dec 7, 2013)

Stacking the Shelves is an awesome meme hosted by Tynga's Review.

Basically, it's a way to share what books you've picked up in the last week or so, to let people see what treasures you've hoarded. 

(Okay, treasures might be *my wording*)

I'm on a book-buying diet so I picked up a bunch from the library this week:

1. Takedown Twenty by Janet Evanovich (which I've already read - 4/5 stars, reluctantly given because it's really more of the same, but it still made me smile. And yearn for Ranger)

2. Stud by Cheryl Brooks, and Slave by Cheryl Brooks.  I read Stud already - a different twist on science fiction romance with some significant biological upgrades for the hero. I've read complaints about the romantic conflict which I think were fair (more communication would certainly have eased all of the problems!), but I still rather enjoyed the story.  Also, realized this was published by Sourcebooks Casablanca and started picking up more books from this publisher.

3. I Own the Dawn by M. L. Buchman - from Sourcebooks Casablanca. I enjoyed it to a point. The start made me a little itchy because the heroine drove me nuts, but yeah... it improved. 

4. Two Way Street by Lauren Barnholdt - my library told me this was new! But I see now it was published in 2007.  Curse you library!  Still, I've cracked it open and I can feel it's little hooks reaching out to get me....

5. Three books by Samantha Grace - Miss Hillary Schools a Scoundrel, Lady Vivian Defies a Duke and Miss Lavigne's Little White Lie.  More Sourcebooks Casablanca books. 

6. My Wicked Little Lies by Victoria Alexander.  I always like Alexander's books, and I have a hard time keeping track of which ones I've read and which I haven't.  I *think* this one is new to me... we'll see?

***
And now the non-library haul:

From Amazon, I picked up The Devil's in the Details by Kimberly Raye which sounded like a cute demon-demon hunter romance.

From carinapress.com, I nabbed:

Defiance by Stephanie Tyler
A Waltz at Midnight by Crista McHugh
His Secret Temptation by Cat Schield
This Winter Heart: A Christmas Steampunk Novella by PG Forte
One Perfect Night by Rachael Johns
Naughty and Nice by a collection of people as this is a short story collection

Finally!  For review, I received three books from Curiosity Quills:
The Devil's Flower by Lisa Collicutt 
Gifts of Blood by Vicki Keire
Nefertiti's Heart by AW Exley

And from NetGalley:
The Girls' Guide to Dating Zombies  by Lynn Messina
Sapphires are an Earl's Best Friend by Shana Galen
Heart of Stone by Christine Warren

***

So... yeah.  My book buying diet did not result in acquiring any fewer books than usual ;)

What did you pick up this week?  Have you read any of the books I grabbed? What'd you think of them?  Is there something I should have picked up but didn't?

A Duchess in the Dark by Kate McKinley

The Basics:
A Duchess in the Dark by Kate McKinley
Forever (Grand Central Publishing)
Romance
Published December 3, 2013

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.


Blurb:
The first in a series of erotica novellas from Kate McKinley. 

When a well-bred young lady opens the wrong bedroom door at a Regency house party, she has no idea of the sensual delights that await her on the other side.

Why I picked this book up:
The gorgeous cover. The promise of sensual delights!

What worked for me:

This is a romance with a light dusting of spice. I thought it was going to be erotica, with the opening scene setting a sexy tone. It wasn't, though. The story was a little sweeter than that. I think it was smart to introduce us to Ashton and Daphne this way because it immediately placed sexual tension in their relationship.  In a longer work, we could have had more build-up, perhaps, but because we didn't have an opportunity to see these characters as not involved, it was easy to see how they were clearly meant to be together.

I liked the triangle in this story; it provided a good opportunity for Ashton to step up and be the better man for Daphne. It was also a novelty to have this point of conflict be something not life-threatening. The writing was strong enough to create and resolve tension that wasn't made urgent by potential death or disaster (beyond the threat of future unhappiness). 

What didn't work for me:

It was so short!  Okay, sure, it's a novella. It's supposed to be short. I still wanted more. This could easily have been expanded into a longer length work, and I would have been quite happy.

The love component is rushed a bit - McKinley relies on her characters' knowing each other before but never considering each other an option until now. This works, but I would have been happier to have this element teased out just a bit longer to firmly establish the connection.

Bottom Line:

I enjoyed this for what it was - a romantic novella. I would have been happier if it were a longer piece, but I can't hold the restrictions of the format against the story. 

I would certainly read another novella in this series, and will keep an eye out for future works by McKinley.

4 stars
For fans of romantic stories, of novella-length stories, of romance blossoming between characters who already know each other.

Where the Heart Is by Darcy Burke

The Basics:
Where the Heart Is by Darcy Burke
Intrepid Reads
Prequel to the Ribbon Ridge series
Romance
Published December 1, 2013

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb:

Home is more than a place . . .

Breaking free from her structured life, Chloe English quits her high-powered job and moves across the country to work as an art teacher. The simple life is all she hoped it would be until her house burns down, leaving her homeless. When a handsome firefighter swoops in to save the day, she can’t believe her luck. He’s laid-back and unassuming, everything she’s looking for in a man—or so he seems. It turns out he’s as ambitious as her ex, comes with a family who could be more stifling than hers, and harbors dark secrets he may never be able to share.

Orphaned as a teenager, Derek Sumner has found a place in his best friend’s family. However, the love and support of his surrogate parents and siblings can’t erase the grief and loss he struggles every Christmas to banish. But this year he meets the fun and sexy Chloe, whose optimism and sense of joy are incredibly contagious. Can she help him face his bleak past so they can forge a happy future?

Why I picked up this book:

It looked like a sweet Christmas-y romance.

My thoughts:

It was a sweet Christmas-y romance. Very well written. Though quick, the romance between Chloe and Derek felt believable. I liked the positioning of family in this story - some meddling members, some absentee, people dealing with the loss of family, others with over-involved family. It was a nice spectrum of family relationships that emphasized how important family is - both the family we're born to and the one that we choose (or that chooses us) later in life.

For a novella length work, I think the pacing of this story was perfect. There was no cheating the reader because there wasn't enough time to wrap everything up neatly, nor did Burke refrain from creating legitimate conflict. I didn't feel like anything was really contrived - another common complaint of mine for novella-length romances.

There's something that feels very real about Chloe and Derek's romance. The problems they face aren't blown ridiculously out of proportion and they both react in reasonable ways (outside of their own personal issues, which makes sense since they wouldn't be issues if they reacted in reasonable ways to them!).  I really liked that, it made it easier to connect to these characters and to care about them - because they were more human and less caricatures.

This book sets up the Archer family who I presume will star in Burke's Ribbon Ridge series. There's a lot of variety among the seven siblings - sextuplets and one 'oops' younger brother, and I think I'll quite enjoy getting to know each of them better.

Bottom line:

This one isn't super Christmas-themed - but does definitely take place around the holidays. Pick it up for the romance, and the start of a new series. I'll be checking out Darcy Burke's historical romance series once I find an opening in my reading schedule!

4.5 stars
For fans of contemporary romance.

Ink is Thicker Than Water by Amy Spalding

The Basics:

Ink is Thicker than Water by Amy Spalding
Entangled: Teen
Young Adult, Romance
Published December 3, 2013
Amazon.ca Kobo.com

Blurb:

For Kellie Brooks, family has always been a tough word to define. Combine her hippie mom and tattooist stepdad, her adopted overachieving sister, her younger half brother, and her tough-love dad, and average Kellie’s the one stuck in the middle, overlooked and impermanent. When Kellie’s sister finally meets her birth mother and her best friend starts hanging with a cooler crowd, the feeling only grows stronger.

But then she reconnects with Oliver, the sweet and sensitive college guy she had a near hookup with last year. Oliver is intense and attractive, and she’s sure he’s totally out of her league. But as she discovers that maybe intensity isn’t always a good thing, it’s yet another relationship she feels is spiraling out of her control.

It’ll take a new role on the school newspaper and a new job at her mom’s tattoo shop for Kellie to realize that defining herself both outside and within her family is what can finally allow her to feel permanent, just like a tattoo.

My Thoughts:

This book was a little different from my standard fare - normally I go in for stories where the romance is a HUGE part of the story. There *is* definitely a romance subplot in this book, and it's sweet and deep and enjoyable. But the bigger plot here is about a teenager growing into her own skin.

This whole identity thing has been a real theme in the books I've been reading - maybe I'm more attuned to it right now or perhaps it's the current hot topic in the genres I'm reading. More likely, it's simply part of the universal tale of growing up and since the heroines in the books I've been reading all fall within that 16-30 age group, growing up is a significant part of their stories.

Regardless, this book really made me think about my own experiences and how I identify myself. Five stars for that alone!

Kellie's undergoing a year of changes - her best friend is branching out to new people, leaving Kellie behind. Her older sister no longer seems to have time for her, her father still sees her as a screw-up, and her mom is proud of her for absolutely nothing. Her lack of obvious talents makes Kellie feel useless, and without a role in her own life story. While it might be obvious to the reader and to the people in Kellie's life how useful she can be, I imagine that everyone can relate to how she feels. Not knowing what sets her apart and gives her value, while at the same time being self-conscious about the things that do exactly that, Kellie's journey through her junior year might resonate with anyone who's ever found themselves undergoing life changes, finding old relationships on shaky ground and unsure how new ones will evolve.

Kellie is juggling so much, wearing so many hats, and this handled so well by Spalding, and seems completely natural within the context of the story. I was completely enthralled by Ink is Thicker than Water and I know I'll come back to it again for a re-read in the near future.

The only sticking point for me was age. At sixteen, it's hard for me to believe that Kellie's allowed to take her car (her own car at this age?) out and about all over town, particularly so late at night and onto college campuses, without her parents being a little bit more protective. Yes, her mom is very cool, and I hope we all can be so understanding when it comes to our children and the idea of them having safe sex and all of this. But Kellie's expectation of freedoms and her comfort level seem beyond her young age. Even adjusting her to seventeen instead of approaching it would have smoothed over that issue for me. Funny how that one year seems to make such a difference for me mentally. Is it a holdover on the whole 'sweet sixteen' thing? Or do I really believe that seventeen is so much different/more mature than sixteen?  Perhaps it's simply that with the licensing system in my province, it would be impossible for a teenager to be driving alone before their seventeenth birthday....

Bottom Line:

Charming, honest, painful - everything that your late teens should be. This book tackles change, blended families, what expect of our loved ones and how we relate to new people in our lives. I think it's a very well-written novel, and an excellent YA title.

A must read!

5 stars
Fans of YA/NA, fans of Sarah Dessen

Switched by Cassie Mae

The Basics:
Switched by Cassie Mae
Flirt
New Adult, Romance
Published December 2, 2013
Amazon.ca Kobo.com

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb:

Cassie Mae redefines the New Adult genre with a novel that answers the eternal question: What do you do when you’re head over heels for your best friend’s guy?
Ever since high school, Kayla has been crazy for gorgeous football player Talon. But before she could muster the courage to tell him, he became a hot item with her beautiful BFF, Reagan. The only person who knows Kayla’s secret is Wesley, Talon’s best bud—and he’s got it bad for Reagan. Now they’re all in college together, hanging out 24/7. For Kayla, seeing the two lovebirds together is absolutely unbearable. So Kayla and Wesley hatch a plot to drive them apart before Talon has a chance to give Reagan the Christmas gift she’s been waiting for.

Soon enough, the once happy couple is fighting. Reagan suddenly can’t get enough of Wesley’s goofy sense of humor, and Talon seems to be paying more attention to Kayla than a guy who’s “only a friend” ever should. But just when everything seems to be falling into place, Kayla and Wesley accidentally spend a night together and discover a hitch in their plan they never considered: that switching partners may not lead to a perfect ending after all.

What worked for me:

This is the second book that I've reviewed from Random House's Flirt imprint. It's an ebook-only line featuring New Adult/Young Adult titles. I am really happy that I've checked it out.

I was a little nervous about the premise of this one - it's hard to like main characters who are actively working to break up their best friends. Amazingly, Cassie Mae not only makes them likeable, but even had me tearing up for Kayla as she wrestled with feeling invisible to the people in her life.

Wesley seems like a complete sweetheart - responsible, loyal (excepting the whole Reagan issue) and sexy. He and Kayla have a wonderfully teasing give and take. I would have loved to get inside his head for a while, though it would have ruined the flow of the story.

Some of this book feels very young - the love square between best friends, the lengthy secret crush and plotting to break up a relatioship. I felt it was all plausible and realistic for freshmen - there's no super jaded or super mature character lurking around to show them the way. I like that Kayla's upfront about how conflicted she feels throughout the book. She's finding her way as she goes, and that's also an important aspect of freshmen (and early twenties) life!

I also liked that though these characters are all in college, that aspect of their lives has little to no impact on the story. The book is completely focused on the relationships - and needs to be, to juggle everything that's happening. I like that college is happening in the background, while their social lives - and Wesley's job - are in the forefront.

What didn't work for me:

I didn't understand why everyone liked Reagan so much. To paraphrase from a favourite teen movie (10 Things I Hate About You) - did the chick have beer flavoured nipples? She doesn't seem to respect Kayla's feelings, and there's legitimate friction with Talon. Yes, she seems to be outgoing, but we don't see her in the most favourable lights in this book.

Now, I could chalk that up to our narrator. Kayla's probably not seeing her best friend in the most positive light. Still, I didn't see the appeal of her as a friend or as a girlfriend (or potential girlfriend), and that did make everyone's obsession with her a little difficult to swallow.

Bottom Line:

I loved this book. I devoured it, I re-read the last couple chapters three or four times before putting it down. I was so thrilled that the author gave us such a satisfying ending. I will definitely look for more from Cassie Mae!


4.5 stars
For fans of New Adult romance, of plans gone awry, of characters who need to wake up and appreciate what they have

The Surrender Trilogy by Priscilla West

A Trilogy Review!

The Basics:

Forbidden Surrender, Secret Surrender and Beautiful Surrender by Priscilla West
New Adult, Romance
Published August 7, September 24 and November 4, 2013.

I received these books from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to tackle all three books in this trilogy at the same time because as I read the first one, I knew I was going to need to read the rest to get a complete story.

So...  What do we have here? :)

West has written a trilogy about a young woman, Kristen, who works as a wealth management analyst and her relationship with billionaire CEO-surfer Vincent Sorenson. This blurb from the first book really works as a teaser for the whole trilogy:

***

The minute I saw Vincent Sorenson, I knew he was trouble. Billionaire. Bad boy. And dangerously sexy. He was everything I craved, and nothing I needed.  

Unfortunately, I couldn’t just avoid him. The higher ups at my company decided they needed his business, and I was on the team to bring him in. Vincent Sorenson didn’t seem as interested in business as he was in me, but I knew that was a door better left unopened. If I got involved with him, it would only unearth the pain I spent years trying to bury. 

I thought I had it under control, but I seriously underestimated Vincent’s seductive charm and silver-tongue. I would soon find out how delicious it would feel to let myself fall into this forbidden surrender.

***

Vincent and Kristen dance around each other, then around secrets and pain from their pasts. Will they be able to overcome these troubles and come together?  Or will one last explosive discovery rip them apart forever?

My Thoughts:
The first book was, I think, the strongest of the three. It reeled me in even while it teased me. It didn't quite follow the path these books seem to follow in terms of the BDSM erotica that I had expected based on the title, cover and the blurb, which I found refreshing.

Vincent, bad boy CEO billionaire that he is, feels like he should be an alpha Dom as per the current trend in romance/erotica novels. He never quite gets there, and I actually liked him more for it. He's determined and focused on his goal - Kristen. There's an intensity there and an arrogance but it never crossed the line for me, which it so easily could have done.

Kristen is ballsy in this book, she's suspicious and she's conflicted about what she wants - Vincent, naked, but also to protect her reputation and her fledgling career. 

I appreciated the lay it all on the table conversation that takes place in this book. At one point in my notes, I wrote "I'd love to see someone accept that yes, this guy is the total package: wealthy, sexy, experienced, even kind, and I can fantasize about being with him, but there's a professional line that I will not cross." I still want to read that book - to see what happens when that line will *not* be breached, despite temptation. 

This book is sexy without an overdose of sexy times - the phone call, while Kristen is in the tub, was particularly full of potential and I think that West wrote that exactly right - even though I wanted a little *more* phone flirtation. 

The first book ends without serious resolution. I was satisfied with it for what it was, but I also immediately picked up the second book - Secret Surrender.

Secret Surrender is a lot less consistent than Forbidden Surrender. 

Vincent runs hot and cold - romantic getaway to his private island that he's never taken a woman to before (this man-cave cliche is getting a little tired, romance authors! I read Nora Roberts' Dark Witch at the same time and sure enough, the hero in it also never takes women back to his home - except the heroine, of course!), but then disappears for a couple of weeks on business. What's a girl to think?  

Vincent's intensity is also ramped up - his insistence on protecting Kristen from a very real threat from her past is at once sweet AND creepy. He takes this too far, and I really thought that the secret hinted at in the blurbs was going to be that he ALSO suffers from some kind of behavioural disorder. 

Kristen goes from ballsy to melodramatic, revealing a streak of insecurity, and again, poking a hole in Vincent's allure when he fails to adequately address her concerns. I think her frustration with him is justified but.... Yeah. What happened to the determined, hyper-focused Vincent of the first book?

There's a Skype session in Secret Surrender that was a highlight - not only because of the sexy nature of it, but because it felt like a really honest moment in the middle of a book that was a little contrived (see: Kristen meeting Ariel, Vincent's ex, and her reaction to that). 

This book ends on a serious cliffhanger and if you enjoy these first two books at all, you'll have no choice but to pick up the third and see how it all ends.

Unfortunately, I think the third book is the weakest of the set. Beautiful Surrender is a whole lot obvious, relying on overused elements of the genre without giving them a unique spin. I felt compelled to read it, to know how the story would end, but I wasn't blown away by any of it. The reader should know what's happening long before the characters do.

We do get some insight from Vincent's perspective - not a strength of this book. But if you're a fan by this point, I suspect you'll love seeing inside his head as getting the hero's perspective is always a popular request from fans. 

I guess by the end of the third book I was hoping for more - something a little surprising to happen, and a stronger and deeper connection. The positive part of that is that it reflects how much I enjoyed the first book. 

The Bottom Line:

Forbidden Surrender is a unexpectedly good story that reels you in for two additional, lesser books. Secret Surrender is inconsistent, with its highs and lows while Beautiful Surrender is little obvious and disappointing.

I still say give them a try - Only the first book works as a standalone - the other two rely on your familiarity with the ongoing story to be satisfying. These are a quick read - I finished them in one evening. If you're in for more than one, you'll need to read the whole set because of the big cliffhanger at the end of book two.  


Forbidden Surrender: 4 stars
Secret Surrender: 3 stars
Beautiful Surrender: 2.5 stars

For fans of overprotective bad boy billionaires, erotic romances, quick reads.