ARC, Books

Book 190: Frat Boy and Toppy (Theta Alpha Gamma #1) – Anne Tenino

This is an example of a novel that could’ve been even better if they used a better copy editor, and this has nothing to do with the poor formatting of Amazon’s conversion process from the publisher provided copy. This is my honest response and I received no compensation.

Overall the story and characters were engaging I thought Brad and Sebastian were great and I really hope Colin, Ashley and Kyle make an appearance in another novel in the series, but it doesn’t look like it. There were moments where I laughed out loud and there were even a few moments where my breath caught in my chest, but in the long run I was let down by the editing and a vital choice the author made early on in the novel. I definitely wanted to know more about the characters, but I felt I really got to know who Brad was and who he was becoming in the short 170 pages of this novel.

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2013 Challenges, Books

Book 189: Water for Elephants – Sara Gruen

Although I thoroughly enjoyed this book and thought it was beautifully written, it didn’t really leave me with much of an opinion. It’s hard to say whether this is because of the writing or the very succinct writing of the plot and story. Many times the books that leave me wanting more are the books that I desperately cling to because I don’t know the happily ever after.

In this book you get everything and it’s great, but the author wrapped the story up in a perfect finite package with only a hint of a what’s next, which was great at the end, but not enough to leave me wowed. Don’t get me wrong, I’m really glad I read it and can’t believe it took me this long to jump on the band wagon and I would recommend it to everyone, I’m just sort of lackadaisical about it. There were two great things that stood out for me, the minor characters (and animals) and the juxtaposition of the old Jacob and the young Jacob.

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ARC, Books

Book 188: Never a Hero (Tucker Springs #5) – Marie Sexton

I’m so relieved to say this book was not at all what I thought it would be. And what I thought it would be was actually mentioned somewhat tongue-in-cheek at one point in the novel. So I’m going to take this moment to applaud Sexton for this! In addition I’m going to reiterate that there does not need to be a lot of sex in a novel for it to be a great novel! I’m pretty sure sex didn’t appear in this novel until after the half way point and it was worth the wait.

As I mentioned earlier in the week in the Covet Thy Neighbor response, I can’t stop reading this series and that’s both good and bad. I read both books in a 24 hour (probably closer to 12 hours, I’ve got a long commute and read fast) period and thoroughly enjoyed them. As with the last, I received a copy from the publisher and received no compensation for my honest response.

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ARC, Books

Book 187: Covet Thy Neighbor (Tucker Springs #4) – L. A. Witt

I can’t stop reading this series!

Seriously, I’m not sure whether this is a problem or not. I don’t think it’s a bad thing, but it’s definitely not a good thing when it comes to my already skewed sense of romance and the world! But what can I say, they are a great escape and I’ve fallen for them! Can’t wait for the next one to be released.

The last two novels in this series (Covet Thy Neighbor and Never a Hero) have seriously raised the bar. I read both of them in the same day and felt that either the authors had matured since their last outing in Tucker Springs or they’ve both reached their stride in the Tucker Springs universe and I can’t wait to see what comes next. I received a copy of this book from the publisher and received no compensation for my honest response.

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Books

Book 186: The Throne of Fire (The Kane Chronicles #2) – Rick Riordan

I just want to start by saying if by some odd chance you’re the publisher of this book, you need to pay for better copy writers. There were quite a few mistakes in this novel in the text and maybe it was part of the ‘style’ but I really doubt it.

Although I’ve enjoyed reading both of the books in the Kane Chronicles so far, I still think it is the weakest of Riordan’s series. They’re definitely action packed and entertaining, but overall I just can’t truly appreciate the characters as much as I can in his other two series and I’m not sure why. Part of this I think comes from the style of the writing and the other part comes from the inability to identify with any of the minor characters. Although I think he did a better job with this book, it just didn’t click perfectly with me. However, don’t get me wrong it was still a fun read and I appreciated seeing Carter and Sadie grow and meeting new characters. I just wish there was more.

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