ARC, Books

Book 281: Poster Boy (Theta Alpha Gamma #5) – Anne Tenino

I think this is by far my favorite of the Theta Alpha Gamma series by Anne Tenino and it’s definitely one of the best written of the series. I of course requested a copy from the publisher, Riptide Publishing as soon as I found out there was a new release in the series. It didn’t hurt that the cover had the cutest of all the guys in the series so far. Prepare yourself, a Goodreads observation/rant is about to follow, if you want to just read about the book and not my thoughts on female M/M romance writers and readers skip the next two paragraphs.

When I put in my star rating on Goodreads, I noticed that the overwhelming majority of the first page were female readers. I decided to look at the first 100, but there were only 60 written reviews, which I ignored for their general idiocy, and of those 52 of them were female. This really isn’t that shocking, as I’ve mentioned it before and I remember reading about it while studying for my Gender Studies degree, but I’m starting to find it really interesting which ones I like and which ones the female readers like. It’s almost always opposite and I’m not sure what that says about me, the females or about the writer.

Click here to continue reading.

ARC, Books

Book 279: It’s Complicated (Tucker Springs #7) – L. A. Witt

I love it when authors start to stretch their writing muscles and it works out well for them. I’ve read quite a four books by Witt at this point, all within this series, and each one feels better written and more fleshed out which is GREAT! And as with After the Fall Witt keeps this series going wonderfully. I once again received a copy of this book from Riptide Publishing (Thanks!) and received no compensation in response for my honest opinion, so read on!

I’ll get the minor negative out-of-the-way first and then go on to gushing about the greatness of the book. The only problem I had with It’s Complicated was that I struggled because Witt’s writing convinced me multiple times that this was a sequel to another story, that I should’ve known Brad and Jeff’s story.

Click here to continue reading.

ARC, Books

Book 265: It’s All Geek to Me – J. L. Merrow

Merrow, J. L. - It's All Geek To MeWhat a quick fun read! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and if Merrow were to expand this story into a longer novel, or even a series of short stories, I would definitely check it out. I received a copy of It’s All Geek to Me from the publisher, Riptide Publishing and received nothing in return for my honest opinion.

From the adorkable premise of the comic book store to the “aww” worthy ending, I couldn’t help but smile through this quick novella. I of course loved the two main characters, the gorgeously described Welshman Rhys and the adorably emotionally fragile protagonist Jez. Merrow did a great job building the tension between the Rhys and Jez and adding in a (not completely) unexpected turn. I wasn’t quite sure what the hidden secret was but I was so worried it was going to be something completely different and the actual reason was so adorable and their reactions were so adorable that I couldn’t help but smile.

Click here to continue reading.

ARC, Books

Book 249: Christmas Kitsch – Amy Lane

I didn’t have any expectations going in and overall I enjoyed it. It could’ve been better but it could also have been a lot worse. This was the last galley/ARC of my year and it was an endearing quick read. I received a copy from the publisher in return for my honest response; no compensation was received.

I tried to stay away from romance novels for so long but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed wallowing in them this past year. When I saw Christmas Kitsch I internally debated for quite a bit of time on whether I would read it and finally broke down and got it. I was hesitant because I always thought the super-specific holiday reads (i.e. Debbie Macomber) were super hokey even though I’d never read them. And I finally requested a copy while trekking through War and Peace, I figured a nice light fun read would be a great follow-up!

Continue reading “Book 249: Christmas Kitsch – Amy Lane”

ARC, Books

Book 241: Mindscape – Tal Valante

What a brief and moving novella. I’m not sure what spurred me on to request it (probably the military aspect – I grew up in a military town), as I’ve tried to limit the number of ARC, and even more so romance based ARCs, that I request, but it was a quick and enthralling read. I could easily see Valante creating a longer novel with greater detail, but this novella worked well enough for me as it was.

I received a copy of Mindscape (link to the publisher’s website) directly from the publisher in return for my honest response; no compensation was received.

Click here to continue reading.