Tag: Colorado

ARC, Books

Book 217: A Woman Lost – T. B. Markinson

Geoff W

Markinson, T. B. - A Woman LostIn general, I have steered clear of self-published works and I have done so for two reasons: fear of a horribly written novel and fear of a horribly edited novel. In this instance both of those fears were proven wrong. T. B. Markinson (link to her new author blog), aka TBM as I’ve known her from her wonderful personal blog, asked me to provide a review of the novel, for which I received no compensation. So let’s get on to the book and my thoughts.

Once again I either didn’t fully read or, most likely, misinterpreted the blurb for the story. For some reason I got it into my head that this was going to be a traditional mystery novel. Clearly, I was wrong; I mean you could argue there was a bit of mystery, but if anything it was more just the suspense of romance. What this novel is, and what it was great at, was a fast-paced and entertaining romantic comedy of errors.

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ARC, Books

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

Geoff W

Sexton, Marie - Never a Hero (Tucker Springs #4)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

Geoff W

Witt, L.A. - Covet Thy Neighbor (Tucker Springs #5)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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ARC, Books

Book 171: Dirty Laundry (Tucker Springs #3) – Heidi Cullinan

Geoff W

Cullinan, Heidi - Dirty LaundrySometimes you just need a bit of fluff to make life seem less hectic. And that’s exactly what this series is for me: a temporary escape from I usually read and from the every day happenings of life. I mean as soon as I start reading one of these (or my Jane Austen fan-fic) I immediately have a smile on my face and start giggling to myself.

This is my first Galley of 2013 and I don’t plan on reading too many this year because of my huge backlog of owned books. I have one left over from 2012 and two additional I’ve requested this year, but I’m only planning on requesting them if they are for series (like this one) or by an author I really want to read, like the second one I’ve requested from the Other Press. I received a copy of Dirty Laundry via NetGalley and this is my honest response and I have received no compensation.

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ARC, Books, Reading Events

Book 146: Where Nerves End (Tucker Springs #1) – L.A. Witt

Geoff W

I decided to read L.A. Witt’s Where Nerves End after I found myself thoroughly enjoying Tucker Springs #2, Second Hand and although I enjoyed the first one I read, this one was a disappointment even though it wasn’t bad.

I honestly don’t think the writing of this novel is bad. I read it in a day and would not have been able to do so if it was badly written. I think the major issues I had with it come from the storyline. Why introduce what could be a fascinating facet to a relationship just to ignore it for most of the book?

I felt the story was pertinent and relevant to current events, the housing market crash and everyone struggling to make ends meat, and I’m assuming was well researched (the acupuncture portion), but what really bothered me was that one of the main characters, Michael, had a son and the son was just absent for large portions of the story.

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