2011 Statistics

Total books read - 199

Print -

ebook -

Booksfree total - 62

Books read by Category:

SFR - 27

PNR/UF - 55

Contemp/RS - 16

Historical - 15

Erotica - 56

LGBT - 23

Ratings: Number of stars

5 - 26

4

3

2

1 - 8

Did not finish - 8

Duds of the Last 4 Months

Books I rated 1 or 2 stars during the last 4 months and a brief comment about why I thought it was bad.

Three Fur All by Crymsyn Hart. PNR menage. My first story by this author, and perhaps my last. I will certainly never spend another cent on her stories. The writing was very juvenile. Could have been re-written by a competent editor, but seems like she didn't have one. The plot was interesting, which is the only reason it got 2 stars instead of one.

Wanted: Handsome Alien Abductor by Myra Nour. Taken in by a cover and a title. Will never spend another penny on this author. Really bad editing (if any) and boring. 1 star.

Above All, Honor by Radclyffe. FF suspense. Boring. Jarringly sudden viewpoint changes. Not believable. 1 star.

Nowhere to Hide by Keyonna Davis. Got this for $1.00 from Amazon. Thank goodness they gave me a refund. it was amateurish and just terrible. 1 star.

Dream Stallion by Kate Hill. I had high hopes for this book, and was very disappointed. It was pretty boring and very predictable. 2 stars.

The Last 4 Months

I've been lazy and not updated my blog. And now one hand is in a cast, so hard to type. I am not going to list every book/story I've read, just some favorites. Also I will make another post with my final stats for the year.

September

Outcast (book 2) and Chosen (book 3) by Amelia Elias. Excellent series, 3 stars each. The author seems to have stopped writing, which is unfortunate.

Bear Necessities by Dana Marie Bell. One of my favorite authord, this story was great! 4 stars.

Breathers, a Zombie's Lament by S.G. Browne. Damn good! 4 stars

Collide by Megan Hart. I didn't like it much during parts of the book, but by the time I got to the ending, I loved it! 5 stars.

Kiss of the Wolf by Morgan Hawke. One of my favorite authors, I loved this one! 5 stars.

Genesis by Kaitlyn O'Connor. Another favorite author, this isn't her best work, but still rated 4 stars.

The Perfect Mistress by Victoria Alexander. One of my favorite historical romance authors, I loved this. 4 stars.

A Hunter's Desire by Stormy Glenn. This m/m author is hit or miss with me. Thus story was a hit, 4 stars.

October

Autumn by David Moody. A zombie book. Pretty good. 4 stars.

Date Me Baby One More Time (book 1) & Must Love Dragons (book 2) by Stephanie Rowe, really funny paranormal romance, loved it! 4 stars.

Havoc by Linda Gayle, SFR story. Really very good. 4 stars.

Runaway Duke by Julie Anne Long. Really liked this historical romance. 4 stars.

Cry Sanctuary by Moira Rogers, PNR short story. Another favorite, this story rated 4 stars.

Saddled by Delilah Devlin - excellent erotic romance. 4 stars.

Dirty Kiss by Rhys Ford. One of the best m/m stories I have read. 4 stars.

November

Autumn: The City by David Moody. Zombie book. Pretty good, gave it 4 stars.

Beginnings (prequel) & Bitten (book 1) by Kelley Armstrong. I really liked these! Also read the graphic novel set between the 2 stories. Must read more! 4 stars.

Hidden Talents by Emma Holly. Really good! Must read more. 4 stars.

Club Shadowlands by Cherise Sinclair. Loved it. 4 stars.

Small Town Siren by Sophie Oak. Really good. 4 stars.

Tangled Tinsel by Vivian Arend. short story, excellent, 4 stars.

His for the Holidays by Josh Lanyon. m/m/ very good. 4 stars.

Jude Outlaw, The Claiming, Colter's Revenge, Tyler's Woman, by Jan Springer. These just got better and better. I loved them and can't wait for more! 5 stars for the 4th, a little less for the others.

December

Covert Cowboy by Harper Allen. Short romantic suspense, was good. 4 stars.

Beauty Tempts the Beast by Leslie Dicken. Excellent! 4 stars/

Raising Stony Mayhall by Daryl Gregory. Zombie book. Amazing!!! 5 stars.

Beneath the Veil by Megan Hart. This was very different from my normal fare. Really good. 4 stars.

Reading a few more that I should finish before year's end. Also will list the duds of the year in another post.

A few books I read in the last few days:

Wicked Sacrifice (Wicked Intent/Sacrifice, Bound Hearts 4 & 5) by Lora Leigh

This is a pair of particularly good stories. Hot and emotional. I really liked how she handled the resolultion of the 2nd story. 4.5 stars!

Shameless Embraces (Embraced/Shameless, Bound Hearts 6 & 7) by Lora Leigh

Two of THE hottest Lora Leigh stories ever! My favorite stories in the series so far. Scorching. 5 stars!

Blind Date After Dark (Mr. Right, The Perfect Tool, Mistletoe Mistake) by Lara Santiago.

Very well written erotica, 3 short but very good stories. 4 stars.

This week I'm reading Outcast by Amelia Elias and Breathers: A Zombie's Lament by SG Browne. Perhaps I'll get back to Collide by Megan Hart....

August Books

Well, books I read from July 22-Aug 25.

Darkscape Redemption by R. Garland Gray. Sci-fi romance. I loved it! Its book 2 in the series, and was well written, interesting, and I'd love to read more books in the setting. Completed: July 22, 2011. 4 stars

Almost Perfection (Cooper's Companions 3) by Lynn LaFleur. Contemporary erotica. It was ok, nothing memorable. I only read it because I had read the previous two. But it really wasn't worth my time. Completed: 7-23-11. 2.5 stars.

Lunewulf Law by Lorie O'Clare. Paranormal erotica. Quite disappointing. I would have given 3 stars but for a huge problem. How can a situation involving human(s) shooting and killing wolves on pack territory never be addressed? Who were the killers? Were they caught and killed? Why were they there? Not addressing any of these questions is completely unacceptable. Completed: 7-24-11. 2 stars.

Slave Boy by Evangeline Anderson. Sci-fi M/M. An average read, nothing really great about it. Completed 7-25-11. 3 stars

Simply Insatiable by Kate Pearce. Historical erotica. Loved this one, the best in the series so far. It was riveting. Loved the banter, the sex, the story, everything! Completed 7-27-11. 4.5 stars.

Eternal Hunter by Cynthia Eden. Paranormal Romance. All I can say is wow. If you haven't read it, read it! Completed 7-29-11. 5 stars.

Total Recall by Kaitlyn O'Connor. Sci-fi erotica. I have to admit, I am a huge fan of Kaitlyn's cyborg series, so my opinion could be considered biased. I loved it, just wished it would have been a little longer. Completed 7-31-11. 4.5 stars.

Ravished by a Viking by Delilah Devlin. Scifi erotica. This book was Great! I loved it! Interesting history, plot, characters, world building, good writing, well written sex scenes, wonderful conclusion--except I have to get book 2 and read it as soon as it comes out! Completed 7-31-11. 4.5 stars.

Nauti Deceptions by Lora Leigh. Contemporary erotic suspense. Oooo I love the Nauti series and this was no exception! it was SO good! Completed 8-02-11. 5 stars.

Burning Up Flint by Laurann Dohner. Sci-fi erotica. My first by this author. I really liked this book...for about 3/4 of it, despite some bad editing. The ending kind of fizzled and dragged, and the girl started acting like an idiot. I give it 3.5, maybe 4 stars. Completed 8-05-11.

Some Like it Rough by Kate Pearce, Susan Lyons and Anne Rainey. Contemporary erotic anthology. The Kate Pearce story was really good. The other two were just average. Completed 8-07-11. 3 stars.

Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch by B.J. Daniels. Harlequin Intrigue. I liked the story a lot. Well written and kept my interest. I was right about who killed who! The ending was surprisingly abrupt. An epilogue would have been nice! Completed 8-9-11. 3.5 stars.

Promises Linger by Sarah McCarty. Historical erotic romance. My first by this author. Really good. Completed 8-9-11. 4 stars.

A Hero's Welcome by Jan Springer. Sci-fi erotic. Was interesting but ultimately, kind of a dumb story. Completed 8-10-11. 3 stars.

Hunted by Amelia Elias. Paranormal erotic romance. This story was great! I highly recommend it. Completed 8-10-11. 4 stars.

Grady's Awakening by Bianca D'arc. Scifi erotica. I just love the Resonance Mates series. This book was wonderful! Highly recommend it. Completed 8-13-11. 4 stars.

Double Dare by Jeanne St. James. Contemporary erotic menage romance. Smokin' hot M/M/F story. The author has a great imagination when it comes to writing sex scenes. Loved it! Completed 8-14-11. 4.5 stars.

Their One and Only by Trista Ann Michaels. Contemporary erotic suspense menage romance. This was a great story, well written, I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more by this author. Completed 8-16-11. 4 stars.

Enslaved (Trek 3) by Jaid Black. Sci-fi erotica. Didn't like it that much. Completed 8-17-11. 2 stars.

Rory by Julia Templeton. Historical erotica. Really enjoyed the 3rd book in the series. Completed 8-19-11. 3.5 stars.

Wolf Tales 11 by Kate Douglas. Paranormal erotica. Another fantastic book in the series! I loved it! Completed 8-23-11. 4 stars.

Conception by Sarah McCarty. Paranormal erotic romance. OMG this story was SO good. The author did a really good job. I only wish she would write a sequel. This is a keeper I may want to read again some day. Completed 8-26-11. 5 stars.

On pirated ebooks....

I posted awhile back that I thought downloading ebooks from the internet was ok, if I already owned the print copy. I recently found out that some of these people who are putting the books up for download by others (which I have never done), are actually making money every time someone downloads a book that they put up!!! I had no idea this was the case. That is just SO wrong. Its one thing to share with a friend or two. But to make money that way just awful. I don't know that all the sites are that way, but some are. Those people should be ashamed of themselves.

Brief Book Reviews

Some brief reviews of books I've read in the last 30 days. Most were in eformat. I greatly prefer to read on an ereader, either my Kindle or my Jetbook. I do still rent books from booksfree.com.

Mates m/m anthology by Sean Michael, Julia Talbot, B.A.Tortuga. Source: booksfree. Completed: June 14. Rating: 2.5 stars.

Review: The first story, Fur and Phobias, was cute and enjoyable but the editorial errors were atrocious. The second story, Running with the Wolf, was good, the best of the lot. I really liked Dibs. The third story, For Life, was about 90% sex, 10% story. I didn't like it much.

When Darkness Comes (Guardians of Eternity) by Alexandra Ivy. Ebook. Completed: June 15. Rating: 4 stars.

Review: I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this book. Highly recommend it and will be reading more in the series.

Catari Heat by Kyla Logan. Print. Completed: June 17. Rating: 3 stars.

Review: It was ok. Not great. Not as good as I hoped. But an average read.

Dragon Storm (Dragon Knights 6) by Bianca D'arc. Ebook. Completed: June 19. Rating: 2 stars.

Review: I am a fan of Bianca D'arc but I found this book to be just awful. It was terribly boring.

Dead Sexy by Kimberly Raye. Source: booksfree. Completed: June 19. Rating: 2.5 stars.

Review: I was interested in this series. Until I read this one. I found it kind of boring. I am not a fan of the Blaze line. Won't be reading the rest of the series.

Halfway to the Grave (Night Huntress 1) by Jeanniene Frost. Source: ebook. Completed: June 22. Rating: 4 stars.

Review: I LOVED this book. Until the end. I didn't like the ending, which knocked it back a star. Will definitely be reading everything by this author.

Stardoc by S.L. Viehl. Source: ebook. Completed: June 25. Rating: 4 stars.

Review: Really good story. The romance was very much underdeveloped. I thought it was scifi romance but it really wasn't. The ending leaves one curious about what comes next. Will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

The Fury by Sloan McBride. Source: booksfree. Completed: June 26. Rating: 2 stars.

Review: Its been done before, and much better. The ending left me unsatisfied and with the thought, there go some hours I'll never get back. It was ok overall, but I don't recommend it.

Siren's Call by Devyn Quinn. Source: booksfree. Completed: June 30. Rating: 4 stars.

Review: really enjoyed this story. It had some surprising twists! I am looking forward to more books in the series.

The Doctor's Forever Family by Marie Fararella. Source: free print from Harlequin. American Romance line. Completed: July 02. Rating: 3 stars.

Review: A short, sweet, and predictable read. You know going in you'll be guaranteed a happy ending, and the well drawn secondary characters make this an interesting read. I have read a few stories by this author, and she is very good.

DRAGON BOUND by Thea Harrison. Source: print. Completed: July 4. Rating: 5 stars.

Review: Don't wait, buy this book now! Superbly written. So well done. The next one I will buy when it comes out, and I seldom, so seldom, buy new releases. I want to read everything this woman writes and I want it now! I absolutely LOVED it!

The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell. Source: booksfree. Completed: July. Rating: 3 stars.

Review: I started this, but it away, then later decided to finish it. Overall it was interesting. Once I got used to the present tense and no quotation marks. I have to say, though, the ending sucked.

The Demon's Daughter by Emma Holly. Source: ebook. Completed: July 7. Rating: 4 stars.

Review: The setting is strange, kind of an alternate Victorian-era Earth. Not too hard to imagine but weird. The story was very good, I loved the characters and the plot.

Wolfsbane Winter by Jane Fletcher. Source: booksfree. Completed: July 12. Rating: 4 stars.

Review: this is a fantasy novel about two women who happen to prefer same sex relationships. Its not erotica. It is set in a far, far distant future, very interesting. Great action. I really, really enjoyed it and look forward to reading more from this author.

The Comeback Cowboy by Cathy McDavid. Source: free print from Harlequin. American Romance line. Completed: July 13. Rating: 3.5 stars.

Review: This was a really good western romance! Until the ending which was rushed and kind of sucked. But overall a good story.

Between Sinners and Saints by Marie Sexton. Source: print. Completed: July 15. Rating: 5 stars.

Review: Really well done m/m romance. I liked how the author tied the religion into the plot so well. The ending was a tiny bit of a let down. But overall, loved it.

Scorched (Dark Forgotten 2) by Sharon Ashwood. Source: ebook. Completed: July 16. Rating: 5 stars.

Review: Fantastic! Loved it! Even better than the first in the series. Highly recommended!

Victor (Rakehells 2) by Julia Templeton. Source: booksfree. Completed: July 17. Rating: 4 stars.

Review: Excellent erotic historical romance. This author is excellent. Recommended.

Harmony's Way (Breeds 8) by Lora Leigh. Source: ebook. Completed: July 19. Rating: 4 stars.

Review: Loved it. Better than the previous entry in the series. Can't wait to read the next on my list.

Beyond the Night by Sharon Long. Source: booksfree. Completed: DNF. Rating: 0 stars.

Review: Started off with good writing. Quickly became so horrifyingly predictable that I could not read another word. Don't recommend this to anyone.

Alien Rule by Tracy St.John. Source: ebook. Completed: 7/21-11 4 stars.

Review: I really liked it. It is book 2 in the series and I feel book 1 should be read first, for an understanding of the back story and alien races. I recommend it to hardcore sci-fi erotic alien menage romance fans.

June books

More books I've read this month so far:

Gideon by Jacquelyn Frank - I thought it was pretty good. I liked the characters and plot. Looking forward to reading more. 3.5 stars.

Megan's Mark by Lora Leigh - I liked this story a lot. I couldn't figure out who Mark was supposed to be to her, since there was a Mark character, and its in the title, but I guess it refers to her mating mark. Because the title had nothing to do with the character, Mark. Anyway, good story. Typical breed book. 4 stars.

Dark Magic by Christine Feehan - I liked it, but not my favorite. I put off reading it for a long time due to his having known since before she was born that she was his lifemate. That sort of put me off. I liked her character. Gregori's character is so flat. I think Feehan wrote him that way intentionally, and I understand. Still I think there should have been a bit more character growth. I think their story would have come across better in a short story rather than a full length novel. 3 stars.

Close Contact by Katherine Allred - Loved it! This book was really good. It probably doesn't deserve 5 stars. But that's what I am giving it because I just loved it. Great scifi featuring a strong, interesting, and sometimes funny female. I liked her man, too! Can be read as a stand alone. But believe me, the first one is just as good!

Changeling Moon by Dani Harper

I just finished Changeling Moon by Dani Harper. When I first started it, I was confused. I had previously read "Heart of a Winter Wolf" and was trying to piece together where in the timeline this story goes. Then I discovered it comes first, and Ms. Harper is re-publishing "Heart" as Changeling Dream in July. Apparently it is revised and updated. I haven't decided if I want to read it or not, since I read the older version already. I am looking forward to reading all future novels, though. Dani Harper is a fantastic writer. Her stories are well written, her characters are likeable and believable, and I could find NO editorial errors so she has a good editor, too! All in all, this is a fantastic story. I gave it 5 stars, my highest rating, which I seldom give to a book.

I need a keeper copy of this book!

Books Read End of May

Tsunami Blue by Gayle Wilson, futuristic romance. 5 stars. This book was phenomenal! No it wasn't perfect and the ending was a bit weak, so it probably doesn't deserve 5 stars. But I am giving them anyway, I liked it that much.

Dark Lover by J.R. Ward, paranormal romance. 4 stars. Book 1 in the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I finally got around to reading it, and it was wonderful! I loved the brothers, their coolness is off the charts! Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

The Beautiful Being by Jessica Inclan, futuristic romance. 3rd and final book in a trilogy. Liked it a lot, 3.5 stars. I would recommend reading the other 2 first or this one could be a disappointment.

Other by Karen Kincy, young adult paranormal romance. Despite being written in Present Tense, I enjoyed this. I do think she should have realized who the killer was long before she did. 3. stars.

The Reapers are the Angels by Alden Bell. Zombie story. I tried to read this. But not only is it written in Present Tense, it also is written like a stream-of-consciousness with no quotes on dialogue. I couldn't deal with it so didn't read more than a few pages.

Warrior by Cheryl Brooks, scifi romance. This is the 2nd book in a series. I enjoyed the first book, but only made it through 2 chapters of this one. It was pretty bad. I doubt if I will read any more of them.

Seize the Night by Sherrilyn Kenyon, paranormal romance. This is Valerian's story and I really loved it. 4 stars.

Double Shot by Allyson James, scifi romance. The volume contains two stories, #2 & #3 in the Tales of the Shareem series. Honestly, I liked the first book, Rees, much better. I give it 3 stars, which means it was good. Just not great.

Master of the Night by Angela Knight, paranormal romance. Book 2 in the Mageverse series. I have read several of the short stories in the series, and liked them a lot. However this one, the first full length I have read, was long on sex and short on everything else. Well written, just way too long sex scenes. Not that I don't enjoy sex scenes, they just seemed so overdone. It seemed like the book was 50% sex. I wasn't expecting erotica from a mass market paranormal romance. I'm sure I will read more in the series but not in any hurry to do so.

Book reviews May

Painting the Roses Red by Trish Lamoree. Paranormal romantic suspense. Reads like a mystery novel. I almost didn't finish this one. I hated the man. I thought he was a mean bastard. I hated the way he and the others were treating the woman. It all seemed so wrong. And it was mysterious. I stuck with it, and I am glad I did. Was I in for a surprise! Turned out to be an absolutely fantastic read. 4 stars!

Being With Him by Jessica Inclan. Futuristic romance. Enjoyed it. Recommended for scifi romance lovers. 3 stars.

Intimate Beings by Jessica Inclan. Futuristic romance. Even better than the first book in the series. Really liked it. 4 stars.

Kiss of Heat by Lora Leigh. Paranormal erotic romance. Loved it, I am a huge fan of the Breeds series and this didn't disappoint. 4 stars.

Elizabeth's Wolf by Lora Leigh. Paranormal erotic romance. Loved it even more than Kiss of Heat. 4 stars.

Acquainted with the Night by Tymber Dalton. Scifi m/m erotica. It was really good. The first 3/4 of the book get 4 stars. The last 1/4, 1 star. My advice, skip the last couple chapters. Definitely don't read the epilogue. Very disappointing. 3 stars.

The Trouble With Destiny by JK Coi. Paranormal. It was ok. I gave it 3 stars, but I don't plan to read any more by this author.

The Quantum Rose by Catherine Asaro. Scifi romance. Excellent! I read it in one day. Even better than I thought it would be. 5 stars.

Soulless by Gail Carriger. Historical paranormal romance. Loved it! I found the characters to be extremely well written. Looking forward to reading everything by this author! 4 stars.

Enslave Me Sweetly by Gena Showalter. Futuristic romance. It was pretty good. I really liked the kick ass heroine. 4 stars.

Currently reading Dark Lover by JR Ward.

Books Read Last Half of April

I didn't update this blog over the last 3 weeks, not because I haven't been reading, but because my desktop had gotten so slow as to be just about unusable, and large amounts of typing are not fun on my netbook. Today we increased the RAM to 4x the amount it had, and its like a new computer! At least for now.

So the books I have read in the last 3 weeks, I may not be able to review very well but here they are:

Darkscape: The Rebel Lord by R. Garland Gray, science fiction romance. I really LOVED it. Lots of action, and good steamy scenes. Gave it 4 stars due to the annoying, sudden view point changes. Looking forward to reading the other book set in this universe.

Starjacked by Karin Shah, scifi romance. Kind of average, 3 stars.

Reno's Chance by Lora Leigh, contemporary erotica. 3 stars. Short story, the first in the Tempting Seals series.

The Initiation of PB500 by Kyle Stone, scifi gay bdsm. I read about half of it. While harsh, the writing was good. However when the character acted "out of character" without any real basis, emotional or otherwise, for his decision, I quit.

Sinjin by Julia Temptleton, historical romance. Wonderful! Definitely an author whose work I want to read more of! 4 stars.

Dragonseye by Anne McCaffrey. Fantasy. Very good-4 stars.

The Edge of Desperation by James Buchanan and Jason Edding. 2 unrelated scifi m/m stories. The Jason Edding story was a continuation of a previous story. Despite having read the first one recently, this story was very jumbled and confusing and split between 2 sets of characters, one set of whom I cared nothing for. Jarring points of view and no real ending to this mess of a story. The story by James Buchanan bored me and I didn't finish. 2 stars.

Roman Rebel by AJ Ryan, paranormal m/m. Very short, entertaining, with a strange ending. 3 stars.

Reluctant by Lauren Dane, paranormal romance, short story. Not too bad. 3 stars.

Storming the Castle by Eloisa James, historical romance, short story. Very enjoyable. 3 stars.

Dreamer by Shiloh Walker, paranormal futuristic romance. Loved it! 4 stars.

Alien Embrace by Tracy St. John, scifi romance, erotica. Really good. Has scenes that may be objectionable to some readers. I loved it. 4 stars. Will be reading the 2nd in the series soon.

Branded by Gold (Men in Love 1) by Carol Lynne. Was expecting m/m but it was just contemporary menage, very predictable and somewhat boring. 2 stars.

Ben's Wildflower (Men in Love 2) by Carol Lynne. Better than the first one. Contemporary romance. 3 stars.

On the Prowl by Kimberly Dean, romantic suspense. Very strange, almost didn't finish it. The woman has sex with at least 2 others before she gets to the main guy. Glad I stuck with it, turned out to be a decent story with a happy ending. 3 stars.

The Fallen, paranormal anthology with stories by Celeste Anwar, Jaide Fox, Marie Morin, Kimberly Zant. All were related by their history but all can be read independently and in any order. All were very good, 4 stars.

Moreta by Anne McCaffrey, fantasy. Loved it. Maybe it doesn't deserve 5 stars, but the way it had me wanting to cry a few times, made me give it 5.

Nerilka's Story by Anne McCaffrey, fantasy. Loved it. Wonderful complement to Moreta, should be read immediately afterwards. 4 stars.

Keeping it Real by Justina Robson, urban fantasy. Well written, at times confusing, interesting, but just not something I am all that interested. Won't be reading more of the series. 3 stars.

Celestial Pasions: Sheala by Judy Mays, scifi romance. Hmmm....not nearly as good as the first story, Brianna. Got bogged down and dull in the middle. The ending did have some good action scenes. 3 stars.

Jaci's Experiment by Bianca D'arc, scifi erotic romance. Loved it 3.5 stars.

River Marked by Patricia Briggs

Just finished River Marked. Good story, fast read. A little different from the other Mercy books. But I still liked it. I rate it about 4 stars, but not really a keeper.

Bound to Trust by Jaci Burton-really good SFR. 4 stars. Looking forward to reading the next in the series.

Space Escapes by Angela Fiddler & Jason Edding. Two unrelated M/M space books. I thought the Edding story was really good, right until it stopped. It didn't have an ending, it just stopped. Not good. So I went and read the sequel, in Edge of Desperation. Very disappointed with that one. The Angela Fiddler story was not too bad. I was able to give the book 3 stars because of her story. However I don't really recommend it.

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead-4 stars. Really good! I definitely plan to read more in this series. (YA paranormal)

Graceling by Kristin Cashore - 4 stars. Really enjoyed this one. (YA fantasy romance)

Starkissed by Lanette Curington - 4 stars. Really good! Interesting, slightly predictable, and a little unfinished, but still worth the read if you love space romance.

Dragonsdawn by Anne McCaffrey - the very first (chronologically) of the Pern books. The story of the people who settled on Pern and the first Fall. Amazing. I loved it. Got tears in my eyes a few times. 5 stars.

Chronicles of Pern: First Fall by Anne McCaffrey. A collection of short stories that take place in the same time frame as Dragonsdawn. All but the first should definitely be read after Dragonsdawn. I liked most of the stories, 4 stars.

Feral Passion by Stephanie Bedwell-Grime. Interesting paranormal urban fantasy. Loved the action scenes. I felt things at the end regarding the bad guy were left unfinished, some questions left unanswered. 3.5 stars.

Simply Wicked by Kate Pearce. Good historical erotic romance. But nothing really outstanding. A fair read, 3 stars.

Devil's Desire by Laurie McBain

I first read this about 25 years ago. I remembered it because I read it in one afternoon. It was the first time I had done such a thing, and it always stuck with me! When I saw it was being reprinted, I decided to read it again!

I think I liked it better the first time. It was a bit predictable, the 2nd time and decades later. She told herself she loved him, but didn't trust her husband enough to tell her she wasn't having an affair. He knew she was a virgin when he married her but of course if she is meeting some mysterious man, she must be having an affair with him, so then he has to make her believe that he is leaving her in the country so he can resume his affair with the woman he loves in London....both of them so dramatic and so immature!

SO much drama at the end. A whirlwind of drama. And of course, all is forgiven and ends happily ever after. But as dramatic as the two of them are, I don't think the drama will stop at the end of the story. Still I would recommend it to someone who wants lush descriptions and a fine example of 1970's best selling historical romance.

Frozen by Morgan Q. O'Reilly

I started this book in September 2010 and it took me 6 months to finish it. I disliked the two main characters, Gunnar and Noreen, and found it full of too much sex, and boring, in the first half. I had a lot of issues with the story, especially the way Gunnar treated her. At least, near the end, Gunnar realized he had essentially raped Noreen and felt bad about it. And did other things to her against her will. He never did admit, to her, that what he did was wrong, though. There were things in the book that were glossed over (told about, not shown) that should have been detailed. And the way the situation ended, was contrived and unrealistic, with Alice and all. And honestly, they were considering visiting with Hollis? And taking the children? I don't think so! I did enjoy the book overall, but would never read it again. Not really sure I would recommend it to anyone, or not.

Anchor & Storm by Kate Poole

People say they just loved this book....Well it started out well, but it fizzled into more summarization, glossing over scenes, lack of detail....so it did not end as well as it began. 3 stars.

It is a historical erotic romance. I enjoyed the details about what happened at Culloden and afterwards.

Insatiable by Morgan Hawke

Wow! What a great book! I loved the characters, the settings, the sex! M/M/F, paranormal romance by one of my favorite authors, and I was not at all disappointed. Can hardly wait to read the next one, will buy it straight out. 5 stars!

Fortune's Fool anthology -

King of Swords by Bianca D'arc: definitely the best story in this book. I loved it and give it 5 stars.
Tempting Fate by Eva Gale: erotic historical romance, very good! 4 stars.
Flesh and Bone by Selah March: BDSM, non-consenual, very harsh. Happy ending but I didn't like it much. 2 stars.
Miranda Writes by Cassidy Kent: too vanilla for me. Didn't like it. 2 stars.

Ebook vs. print

Now that I have a Kindle (in addition to a Jetbook Lite) I find I'd usually rather read the ebook than the print. Thus it is very annoying when I find a book I want to read and its not available in ebook format. (Or is way too expensive). For example I started An Unmistakable Rogue by Annette Blair and am enjoying it very much. Decided to see if I could get it for my Kindle. It was never released in electronic format, and can't even find a scanned copy. Very irritating. Guess I'll just have to keep reading that paper back.

And then we have Insatiable by Morgan Hawke, which I am reading. Great book! But the ebook is almost as much, (more so, on one site) than the paper back. Ridiculous! So I'll just keep reading the paper back (which I didn't buy new). If it was $4 I'd have bought it already. Amazon has a lot of good Samhain titles for $4.40. Why can't other publishers allow their books to be sold for that price? I can deal with that. I can't deal with $8+ for an ebook. Not when I can get the paperback for 1 PBS credit, which is about $2.50. The author/publisher gets nothing from me that way, now do they? And they never will if they keep putting their ebooks out for that much money.

I trade (from 3 sites) and rent (from booksfree), and use the library, and the author gets nothing from me. I would gladly fork over $4.40 or less for a full length, quality ebook. I have done so with books by Lorelei James, and other Samhain titles. More than that? Not going to happen. I'll just keep looking for those illegal copies if the ebooks cost too much. Or the other legal ways in which I get books, and the publishers get nothing from me. Or the very rare occasional times which I will spend more than that, and buy the print copy.

Moonstruck by Susan Grant

This was a decent scifi romance story. I really liked the two main characters. The main bad character wasn't too hard to figure out. The ending was good. Works fine as a stand alone, though there was some reference to books that had gone before. 3 stars.

One Good Turn by Carla Kelly. A gem! Delightful dialog, loved the characters. 5 stars.

Pleasure Planet by Evangeline Anderson. 3 unrelated stories. All three were well-written and enjoyable, but I feel the title was poorly chosen. Only the last one was really set in an outer space scifi setting. 3.5 stars.

Dark Robe Society I & II by Jason Edding

How to review this....its very odd. The first story, Dark Robe Heart, which appears in the book Space Escapes (along with an unrelated story by Angela Fiddler), is a good action story. The story centers on two male clones, Jack and Edge, and the relationship they build, the world building is good, the history is interesting. Then, it just ends, very abruptly. I won't even call it a cliff hanger. There is no ending, it just stops.

The second story, the Edge of Desperation (published along with an unrelated story by James Buchanan) picks up a couple months later and begins with different characters. This story would not do well at all as a stand alone. This one tells of the relationship between Tees and Toren, in addition to the relationship between Jack and Edge. Tees is very unlikable, and I really didn't enjoy reading about he and Toren much. I wanted to read about Jack and Edge, but in this story they really didn't have much to do. They were like leaves blown about in the wind, with no control over where they were going. The story started well enough, but fizzled. The point of view changes were very jarring, and happened quite at random, without warning. As a whole, the story was confusing. The ending was blah....no real end to the central story at all. It might mean another episode is pending, but after this one, I don't know if I can bring myself to read any more.

Tears of the Dragon by Angelique Anjou

I really like this author's writing style! This is not the first book of hers I've read, nor will it be the last. Tears of the Dragon is scifi romance with a bit of erotica in it. It was awesome, well written with a great ending. Loses points due to some editorial errors. 4.5 / 5 stars. Recommend to anyone who enjoys scifi romance.

Here's one I do NOT recommend, a short story called Dare to Dream by Becky Wilde. The best thing I can say about it is that its short. It was extremely predictable and rife with atrocious errors (ie, chocked instead of choked). Don't waste your time!

Stranger in Town by Maggie Shayne, a 2-in-1 volume. The first 2 books in the All Girls Oklahoma Brand series. The first story, The Brands Who Came for Christmas, is very good contemporary romance, and the title becomes obvious after awhile, and its cute. The second story, A Brand-New Heartache, was more romantic suspense. I really liked both of these stories, the main characters were excellent, the Brand family was great. highly recommend the entire series (there are 5 in this one, and there is a related series, the Texas Brands). 4/5 stars.

Love Means...No Shame by Andrew Grey

I really liked this M/M romance. I thought it was well done, perhaps the best written of Grey's books which I have read, to date. (Some of his previous books tend to get bogged down in unimportant minutiae). I was annoyed at the end when I discovered that book 2 comes before book 1, but I didn't check on goodreads.com first, so its my fault.

Now reading Bright Eyes by Catherine Anderson, which I have had on my read-next list for a long time. I finally made a read next collection on my kindle for next-in-series books, hopefully that will help me to quickly choose a book, without wondering if its the right one to read. I must read series in order!

Also started a booksfree book, Stranger in Town by Maggie Shayne, a 2-in-1 reprint of the first 2 books in the Oklahoma All Girls Brands series. Enjoyable and fast to read.

To carry around in my purse, I am halfway through Moonstruck by Susan Grant. This time next year, I hope to have one of those smart phones with the kindle app on it, eliminating the need to carry physical books or the Kindle, both of which are somewhat large and heavy for carting around.

February Wrap Up

The rest of the books I read this month:

Colter's Daughter by Maya Banks. I liked it, but not as much as the other Colter books. It was very well written, but I think she forgave him too fast at the end. I suppose she'd had enough time to get over it all, but it still seemed too quick. And then, sign of a great book, when the last sentence was read, I didn't want it to end! There was a great emotional impact, which is something I always want in a romance. 4 stars.

Slave Auction by Stormy Glenn. M/M erotica. Book is listed as Spaced Out for Love #1 so I am hopeful there will be at least one more. I loved this book! (And thank all the gods, she finally got a good editor!) Yes it was "shallow" but all her books are, they are just good fun reading, usually. This one definitely was that! I loved the outer space setting, and the characters, the relationship that developed...could have used a little more smoothing out, and there were 3 or 4 editorial errors, but overall, a much better edited book than others I have read by this author. 4 stars.

Touch Me Gently by J.R. Loveless. Contemporary M/M. I loved this. I love stories with a tortured hero and a strong protector. The boy's past was well done. 4 stars.

Into the Storm by Suzanne Brockmann. Contemporary military romance. Lots of funny dialog, but not very much suspense til right at the end. 3.5 stars.

Deadly Shadows by Jaycee Clark. Paranormal romantic suspense. Good story, witty dialog, strong characters, fast paced and suspenseful. I had no idea who the killer was until the very end, when the author revealed him! There were a few unanswered questions (that should have been wrapped up) and at least one "huh?" moment, but overall, a good story! 4 stars.

My Dark Prince by Julia Ross. Historical romance. Wonderful story with complex characters and a delightfully happy ending. 4 stars.

Howl by Jet Mykles, Raine Weaver and Jeigh Lynn. Paranormal romance. Leashed by Mykles is a hot and wonderful MMF story. I loved the relationship between the 2 men. Wolfe's Gate by Weaver was great. Lots of subtle humor and riveting action. The last story, by Lynn, was just ok. 4 stars overall.

Bitter Creek's Redemption by TA Chase. Historical M/M. Interesting look at what it must have been like to a gay man in the post Civil War era. I really liked it. 4 stars.

The Tiburon Duet by Lara Santiago. SF erotic romance. The first story was cute and humorous. The second story, not as good, a little slow to start, but I enjoyed it. Overall 3.5 stars.

Mitch by Dakota Rebel. Paranormal M/M. Very well written, could hardly put it down. 5 stars.

The Promise of Kiernarhoan by Isabo Kelly. Scifi romance. I loved this one! It is not erotica but there are some steamy scenes. The main character is a strong woman who really carries the entire story. She is a kick-ass heroine who does whatever has to be done, with a strong sense of honor. The progression from naive innocent to strong leader is shown cleverly over the course of the story. Futuristic, set almost entirely on a planet that is very realistically created. I loved the technology, the story didn't go into a lot of details but there was enough to make it interesting and believable. I loved the aliens and the way humans' ignorant fears of them were portrayed. Lots of great action, and a great conclusion. I liked David, too, he was an interesting character. 5 stars.

No Going Home by TA Chase

No Going Home by TA Chase. M/M cowboy romance. My rating: 3/5 stars. This was a really good story, two wonderfully interesting men, in a realistic horse centered setting, with lots of really good, hot sex scenes. TA Chase is an excellent writer. My problem with the story was the lack of organization. A really good editor would have fixed that and made things flow smoothly. Too bad that didn't happen.

Halfway through Colter's Daughter by Maya Banks. Withholding comment for now.

January Wrap Up

During the last half of the month, I didn't read as much as I should have!

Eye of the Storm by Dee Davis. Romantic Suspense. It was good-3 stars. A little predictable, a little repetitious. Lots of good action. Will read more by this author.

No Mercy by Jaid Black. Book 2 in the Trek series. Erotic sci-fi. 3 stars. It was a bit over the top.

Julia's Knight by Stormy Glenn. Contemporary erotica. 2 stars. As with the other books in this series, had the potential to be a good story. However an extreme lack of editing and poor organization made it a bomb.

The Moon's Shadow by Catherine Asaro. Sci-fi romance. Excellent addition to the series. 4 stars. It was interesting reading about the events of previous novels from different points of view, and it answered some questions for me. I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

Currently I am reading several books. Rereading Devil's Desire by Laurie McBain, which I read at least 25 years ago! Reading Into the Storm by Suzanne Brockmann, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, My Dark Prince by Julia Ross. Need to read Deadly Shadows by Jaycee Clark and No Going Home by TA Chase which are rentals, and Slave Auction by Stormy Glenn and Promise of Kiernarhoan by Isabo Kelly for a PBS game, oh AND Colter's Daughter which should be on my Kindle now!

So many books....must read faster!

Spherical Harmonic by Catherine Asaro

Spherical Harmonic by Catherine Asaro is another great book in the Saga of the Skolian Empire. It is the story of Dyhianna Selei and what happened to her after the events of the Radiance War. I loved it, gave it 5/5 stars. What a great book. It runs concurrently with several other of the books. I skipped over Quantum Rose because it appears to be a stand alone, however some of the events that happened in it are referenced in Spherical Harmonic. I will read Quantum Rose soon, but Moon's Shadow is next, another of the concurrent stories.

This morning I read a stand alone in the series, a short story called The Shadowed Heart. It takes place at about the same time. Very nice story. It is printed in an anthology called Best New Paranormal Romance. The other stories didn't interest me.

I recently read Nature of the Beast by Rebecca Goings. 3.5/5 stars. It was good. Not my favorite of the series.

I also read the two stories in On the Prowl by Taryn Blackthorne and Kaye Chambers. I liked them both, would love to see sequels from both these authors. 4/5 stars.

I read Nowhere Diner: Finding Love by TA Chase, a wonderful story of two men finding love with each other. I loved it, but only gave it 4/5 stars, because it was SO short, and unfinished. I hope a sequel will be published soon.

Breaking Point by Suzanne Brockmann

Ninth book in the Troubleshooters series. Ms Brockmann is an extremely good writer of military romantic suspense. Her books suck me in like a whirl pool and I can't get out til the end! This book was no exception. It is the story of two characters, Max and Gina, that featured prominently in several previous books. I was really looking forward to their story.

Several things I did not like, despite being unable to put it down. The first 60% of the book featured jumping back and forth and all over the place in the time line. I personally cannot stand reading books like that. I like a linear flow.

I did not like how Max and Gina were portrayed. Gina, chasing after Max, never taking no for an answer, using sex as a way to keep herself around him. Max, acting like a complete asshole, but letting her screw him all the time. Caring so much about her going to Africa, but not doing a thing while she was there for a year and a half. Ugh. I really never pictured them acting like this in the previous books.

The ending seemed a little anti-climactic to me.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. The action was pretty much non-stop. Jules was the best part of this story. Because of him this story got 4 stars. I look forward to the next book, hopefully the Troubleshooters will be back in action, since they were not in this one at all.

B*E*A*S*T* of Burden by Rebecca Goings

Beast of Burden, book two in the B*E*A*S*T* series by Rebecca Goings was just as good as book 1. I enjoyed the conflict between the characters as well as the overall conflict they were all involved in. Good writing, good action, hot sex, I gave this book 4 stars and immediately began book 3. Definitely an author I would recommend!

Also finished Succubus On Top by Richelle Mead, book 2 in the Georgia Kincaid series. Loved it! I adore Georgia and her friends and associates, and of course her job in the book store! I have the next 3 in the series here, so I should start #3 soon, shouldn't I. I really look forward to more of her adventures.

Breaking Chance by Kim Knox

I read this short ebook for the January book of the month at Sci Fi Romance. My first by this author, I found it entertaining, with plenty of action, good sex, character insight and depth. My only real complaint is the ending. I'd have liked, at the least, another scene with the sentient ship. I would definitely read a sequel to this, if one is written.

The Empress' New Clothes by Jaid Black

I finished this today. It sat in my TBR for a long time, as my anticipation built. Unfortunately it did not live up to my expectations. It just seemed so average. I love Jaid Black and own the rest of the series so I will read it, but if the rest are like this one, they won't make it to my keeper shelf. Some of the other books written by Ms. Black can really push my buttons in all the right ways! This story had some humor and lots of sex (m/f, f/f) but the conflict between the characters wasn't too convincing, and the conflict from outside sources came very late in the story, and there was a lot of "telling" vs "showing" throughout. Too bad. Hopefully the rest of the series is better!

Cold As Ice by Anne Stuart

Finished this late last night. It was a fast paced, well written romantic suspense. Lots of people really love this series, of which this book is the 2nd. I had a hard time believing they could love each other, beyond sexual attraction there wasn't a great deal of connection. I had the same issue with the first book in this series. Which means the next book will be put off for quite some time. I also didn't care for the ending. I liked that they were together, of course, and where they were, but how they got to that point was so abbreviated that it felt like a lot was missing, which I would have liked to see included. For people that like suspense with not a lot of romance, I suppose this will be a good read. I prefer a bit more emotion and romance in my books.

My 2010 Statistics

For 2010 I kept a number of lists. The totals are not completely accurate, as I tried not to include short stories in them, but I did read quite a few of them.

Total books read: 324 (Improvement from 2009!) An average of 27 books per month.

Books from booksfree: 80 (Cost per book averaged $2.80)

I kept a list by category also. Not a strict list. This year I have a separate category for M/M but in 2010 they were not separated:

Erotica: 133

Paranormal: 88

Historical: 27

Contemporary: 53

SciFi Romance: 21

In 2009 I also read more erotica than anything else. I was trying not to read as much in 2010. Failed miserably! I have plans to change that for 2011. I want to read a lot more SFR and PNR.

I also have added a category for ebook short stories, which will include anything that is not in print and not a full length novel.

For 2011, goals include starting a number of new series that I have collected, continuing or finishing series that I already have on hand, and trying not to collect any series that I don't already have. Gotta make a dent in my TBR! I will play in fewer PBS games, and in general, try hard to acquire far fewer books per month. Yes, I did keep track of print books acquired per month, no I am not going to reveal my shame. December was my lowest of the year and it was 30 books.

I haven't decided what book I will start for my first book of the year, yet. I'll have to check my list. That's another thing, ok make it a resolution: shelving the "save the best for last" attitude and reading what I want to read most!