Books

Book 1,045: Scoring Position (#2) & 1,046: Winging It (#1) (Hockey Ever After) – Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James

Yes—I accidentally read these out of order. I didn’t realize Winging It was the first in the series and only figured it out 1/3 of the way through Scoring Position so of course I immediately had to download the first and start it right after.

Overall, this series was good, and these first two books were well written, and the stories were engaging, but OMFG they were all entirely way too long, or not well paced. More on that later.

Continue reading “Book 1,045: Scoring Position (#2) & 1,046: Winging It (#1) (Hockey Ever After) – Ashlyn Kane & Morgan James”

Books

Book 630: Kade & Cameron (Something About Him #6) – A.D. Ellis

And I’m done. I actually read part of the acknowledgments, but only to confirm that Ellis does use beta readers and apparently has an editor/reading group, but I’m still suspicious. She also thanks someone for creating the covers for her and I’m still in awe that she loves them. I know you’re not supposed to judge, but they’re just bad.

95% sure it wasn’t worth the hate read, but at least it got me through them and I don’t feel like I wasted money on them. I just have to keep even more vigilant about self-published works, especially on Amazon.

Continue reading “Book 630: Kade & Cameron (Something About Him #6) – A.D. Ellis”

Books

Book 628: Braeton & Drew (Something About Him #4) – A.D. Ellis

Ugh, these reviews are going to get super short. I’m hate reading the rest of the series since I paid for them and there are some (but very few) parts that are enjoyable. I continue to wonder whether Ellis has ever met had a conversation with a gay man or if this is all just her imagination.

The biggest problem with this book is that Braeton, first introduced in Bryan & Jase, is nothing like his character in that book. I mean sure he dresses the same and is flamboyant, but he comes across as a total ass in the first part of this book. He never came across as an ass in that first one.

Continue reading “Book 628: Braeton & Drew (Something About Him #4) – A.D. Ellis”

Books

Book 625: Bryan & Jase (Something About Him #1) – A.D. Ellis

SAY IT WITH ME NOW: “If I write a self-published novel I promise I will use a professional copy editor, use multiple beta-readers, and ctrl+f any asinine phrase that I may over use.”

Okay, now we can move on. I didn’t realize these were self-published when I purchased these (for $6) or I probably would not have purchased them. I was trying NOT to judge the books by their horrible covers and was drawn in by the blurbs.

As I was gearing up to read these I did a cursory Goodreads check and knew I was in for an experience and that’s part of what flagged for me these were self published.

Continue reading “Book 625: Bryan & Jase (Something About Him #1) – A.D. Ellis”

ARC, Books

Book 600: Shortest Way Home – Pete Buttigieg

Damnit. Now I want to move to South Bend, Indiana—well, maybe only a bit. I love my “mid-sized” Boston and “quaint” Cambridge, liberal East Coast elitist state a bit too much, to really consider it. I reached out to the publisher for a copy of this book after Mayor Pete announced his exploratory run for U.S. President.*

As the first openly gay (married, veteran) person considering a run for this office, of course I wanted to read it. I wanted to know why he felt he could go from being the mayor of small Midwest city to running the United States; I wanted to know his coming out story (it’s what binds us gays [broadly LGBTQ+] together); and I wanted to see what his vision was for the future. Did I get all of this? Not quite. Was it worth reading? Definitely.

Continue reading “Book 600: Shortest Way Home – Pete Buttigieg”