Two Books You Should Read!

I feel the weekend is the best time to catch up on reading. And I have two interesting books that were very emotional, excellently written and overall recommended reads. Both are so different from each other. One is about an erotic tale of the Wild West with a heroine who has been sexually abused. And the other is a Young Adult novel written twenty-five years ago about two teen girls falling in love with each other. I read both of these book this week and they had such an emotional impact that I had to share them with others.

Caine’s Reckoning by former Elloras Cave writer, Sarah Mccarty was a very difficult read for me. If you have read Mccarty’s books from Elloras Cave, then you know what I mean. She writes about these larger than life men, who are the perfect alpha hero. They are protective and oh so sexy. The women that enter their lives have been abused in some wayor another, but the heroines are strong and don’t fall right helplessly into the arms of the hero. The poor guy has to work for it and uses his skills in the bedroom to impress his lady love. Caine is one of these heroes. He is a Texas Ranger and part of a group called Hell’s Eight. (There are eight men in this group, so this series is going to be a long one!) Caine has a horrible background, but he is pretty much well rounded. But when he meets Desi, who has gone though the most horrible things you can think of, Caine is smitten. Desi is no wilting violet. She runs away from him because she can’t stand men. Desi has been tortured sexually. I won’t go into many details, but the poor girl has been raped over and over. Caine marries Desi regardless so he can protect her. He simply wants to torture and kill these men who did Desi wrong.
Caine has his own form of therapy where Desi is concerned. She is afraid of intimacy, especially with a man like Caine. If he wanted, Caine could abuse Desi just like the men who have done to her in the past. But Caine treats Desi much like a horse that has to be broken in. He uses a steady hand plus a little TLC. A little? What am I saying! He can’t keep his hands off the woman! I knew what I was getting when reading a title by Sara Mccarty. She is not one of these fluffy romance writers that makes it easy between our two love birds. No, she likes to see them suffer, even during the most intimate parts. And those love scenes are very hot, erotic and written with such emotion!
So, if you are in the mood for some heavy reading, Caine’s Reckoning is the way to go.

The other book is, Annie on my Mind by Nancy Garden. I picked this up after seeing it on the list of banned books. Written in 1982, this Young Adult novel is about teenage friendship and love. But this love story is about two teen girls. Liza, the narrator is a freshman at MIT and looks back at her senior year in high school when she met Annie. At first their friendship is more like any normal female one. These two girls bond and become best friends. Until one day, Annie kisses Liza. Liza is confused because the way she feels for Annie is unlike any she has felt for a girl or even a boy. Annie is her soul mate. But Liza doesn’t think of herself as being a lesbian. Annie is more honest with herself and says she has always been attracted to girls rather than boys. Liza is finally coming to terms with attraction and love. She loves Annie just because it feels so right and their love should not have a label.
Their friendship and eventual girlfriend relationship is sweet and beautiful, much like young love tends to be. They worry about how they will be together and when it comes time to be more intimate, how will they find a place to be alone and if they can, because taking that next step is a scary and new thing, especially because of the situation they are in. Other things happen, such as Liza parents, teachers and schoolmates finding out who she is with and basically getting caught.
I was truly in awe of this wonderful and moving story just about love in general. And because Nancy Garden has written Annie on my Mind for teens, it is quite extraodinary that I would recommend any young person (well, at least younger than me!) read.

Questions, comments and any other fun posts are always greatly appreciated! :)

Katiebabs