Review: Just Like Candy

Just Like Candy by Kimberly Kaye Terry

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
After the first disappointing KKT book, I was hesitant to try this one. But, it was leaps and bounds better than the other one. The sex wasn't as prevelant, but it was written a heck of a lot better. The story line was clear, made sense, was interesting, had a beginning middle and end.....all the things I expect when I pick up a book that advertises a story line. To be clear, some books tell you up front that you're just going to get 210 pages of hot sex, and that's great! You know what you're getting into (hee!) when you open the cover. But, if you SAY there is going to be a story, there had damn well better be one. There is here.



Hero and Heroine are developed fairly well. The daughter was glossed over a bit, but the Hero's relationship with her, from his point of view, was pretty defined. I think there was a little beating over the head as far as Heroine being "different" and "exotic" or "doing her own thang" so on, so forth, this that and the other. Yes, we get it. She's a "free spirit". Ugh. If you have to tell me that all the time, maybe she isn't a free spirit. Just a thought.



There was the beginning of a subplot romance going on with the sister and the best friend, but that never went anywhere which is too bad. I was getting curious about them. Maybe that is planned for a future book. All in all, it was a good read.


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Review: Keeping the Night Watch

Keeping the Night Watch by Hope Anita Smith

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Wow. I hesitate to even try and describe this book because it will result in epic fail. But, here goes: a juvenile book, told in a series of short free verses, about a 13 year old whose father has returned after an "absence". See? You don't care, right?



Someone left this book on my desk to peruse before it was sent out to our branches. It was FANTASTIC. That's really all I can say about it. If I could give it 8 stars, I certainly would. You'll be thinking about it long after the story is done.


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Review: Get Your Sexy On (and they did. They really did!)

Get Your Sexy On by Kimberly Kaye Terry

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
There isn't always a correlation between how hot the sex scenes are and how good the book is. In this case, however, there definitely is a connection. The sex in this book is supa hot! The story..... not so much. I found myself skimming through the book because the storyline was just boring. There were huge leaps in logic that didn't make sense. She's so concerned about her brother, for instance, that she's just going to go away with someone for the weekend? Or, he's going to TAKE her away for the weekend, but she can still go in to work as a stripper? Please, take me away but make me go to work! Uh....no. If I had to guess, I would say these were two characters who wanted to do nothing but get it on, and Terry was forced to construct a story to weave around that. There was chemistry there, but there didn't appear to be any real feelings. Normally that would be fine, it doesn't HAVE to be a romance book after all. But, that's what it was supposed to be and, in that, it failed.



Flip through this one at the bookstore, read the good parts, and then buy one of her other books (I'm reading one right now that I actually like.) This one isn't worth your recession dollars.


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Review: Men of the Otherworld

Men of the Otherworld by Kelley Armstrong

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Most of this book has been published on Armstrong's webpage, so it isn't new to a lot of people. It was mostly new to me, though. While I consider myself a HUGE fan, I hadn't spent a lot of time on her webpage so I missed most of this the first time around.



The background info on characters is always interesting to me. You seem them progress from a certain point forward, but, if you're really into the world the author has created, you're curious about everything that happened before. I went into this book anxious to learn more about Clay. I came away from this book absolutely FASCINATED with Jeremy. That is the wonderful thing about Kelley Armstrong.



If you haven't read any of her Otherworld books, I'm not sure this is the best place to start. Yes, chronologically, it is the "beginning" per se. But, a lot of what is there doesn't mean as much if you aren't already familiar with the characters. Of course, that is my perspective since that is how I'm coming at it. It may work perfectly fine the other way.


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Review: Act like a lady, think like a man

Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment by Steve Harvey

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
The best thing about this book was that when men saw me reading it, they would get ALL KINDS of bent outta shape. Seriously. I mean, they took it personally. That only made me want to get through it faster to see what the hell Steve was telling because men were nervous.



The first part of this book reads like a relationship manual from 1950. I understand where he's coming from, but I couldn't relate. My mind doesn't work that way. A friend of mine agreed that it did sound a little bit dateed, but she also said "it gets better."



It did. I love the part encouraging women to "get some standards." It's sad that people need to be told that but, obviously, they do. I'm glad to hear a man say it. But, it is also kind of sad that Harvey sets up men as these brainless little creatures who will only act right if you make them. I just can't believe that is true. Sure, there are people who will try to get away with whatever you're willing to let them get away with. I get that. But surely, SURELY, there are some men out there who don't need to be put in check from the starting line. Surely there are some men out there who have standards of their own and don't need you to dictate yours in order to act accordingly.



All of that said, it was an entertaining book and a quick read. I would recommend it to people who are interested, but take it, like any other "self help" book, with a salt shaker.


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Sigh

I "officially" gave up on Laurel K. Hamilton a loooong time ago. Obsidian Butterfly was the last book I liked. I read one or two after that but......well, the last one I tried on audio (thinking it would be better) and it wasn't. I don't think I got 100 pages in. And that's the series I actually liked. Forget the Merry Gentry series, I was done with that after two.

I understand that lots of people like her, and I'm glad for her continued success. I just got bored and couldn't get back on track.

Yet......when I read the blurb for Skin Trade I was still tempted. I know it isn't going to go the way I want it to, and disappointment is inevitable. Yet......