Recent Reads

I read The Cat and The Storm back to back and thought I would review them together since the author has done something unusual and told the same story from two different angles.

The Cat by Jean Johnson
Book 5 in the Sons of Destiny series

Why this one: I've been reading and enjoying this series so it was a given.
After being slightly disappointed in The Song; there was nothing wrong with it, just the two main characters were both kind of mellow and had already met and were attracted in the previous book, so there wasn't much conflict between them, I wasn't quite as sure what I would feel about The Cat

Steam Level: Though the love scenes come late in the book, it's worth the wait and there is lots of tension building to it

Amazon Blurb:

Amara is wary of mages––they chased her out of her homeland. Yet there is something about the mage Trevan of Nightfall that Amara can’t resist. But can he be trusted with her most fiercely guarded secret? Courting such a pretty yet prickly outlander won’t be easy, but Trevan is determined to try. She may be fierce, proud, and from a different culture, but after all, he is the Cat, and none but the most fascinating and challenging of women could satisfy him…

My Thoughts: I liked this one much better than The Song. Amara is a prickly kind of heroine, almost difficult to like earlier in the book. But when you consider what she gave up to protect her sister, I made allowances. And as prickly as she was, she was also quick to make amends so I think she was redeemed enough for me. I was kind of surprised by how much I liked Trevan. He hadn't really been much of a prominent brother in the previous books, so it was only in this one where we really got to know him and he's quite the charmer. He was the 'lover' of the brothers before they were exiled to the island and he's having quite the 'frustrating' time of it, especially when his older brothers start finding their mates. So he is delighted when he meets Amara, a queen-in-waiting who escapes along with her twin sister to their kingdom. Amara and Arora are being hunted by mages for Arora's strange powers. Amara, her protector is horrified when she realizes she's landed on an island full of mages. In addition, she clashes with Kelly, the self-proclaimed Queen and is resentful that she had to give up her dreams of becoming Queen of her land to save her sister. She's most reluctant to fall for the charmer that is Trevan, but he perseveres and finally wins her love.
What knocks this book down in for me though was the detail the author took in the group planning of house building and city planning. My eyes kind of crossed during this part of the book and I mostly skimmed it. But overall, this was a nice edition to this series and I quite enjoyed it.

Which leads me to......

The Storm Book Six in the Sons of Destiny series.

Why this one: I'm enjoying this series and it's next on the list

Level of Steam: Hotter than The Cat!!

Amazon Blurb:

Eight brothers, born in four sets of twins, two years apart to the day—they fulfill the Curse of Eight Prophecy. Though no longer trapped in exile, their growing family faces new problems. Now Rydan, the tormented sixth-born son, must find a way to trust his Destined bride, Rora, a woman who possesses her own secret power—one that could bring them together or annihilate their world forever.

My Thoughts: I've been anticipating this book from the very first book. Rydan was the mysterious anti-social brother. And there was something about him that made me just want to read more. The rest of his brothers and their mates are all pretty open, but Rydan shunned their presence and when he did reluctantly show himself, he was all growly and rude. So of course that makes the reader curious about him. And for nintey percent of the book he didn't disappoint. He first meets 'his mate', Rora, when she sneaks into his lair. He's under some potion his trouble making younger brother, who's story will be the last one, drugged his drink. He's dreaming of a woman and when Rora turns up in his room, Rydan makes his move. He is horrified when he realizes what he's done, but Rora is intrigued. She has a superpower of her own and she alone realizes what makes Rydan so anti-social. She works on helping him overcome his problem.
Rora is the opposite of her prickly twin sister. She realizes that this island of mages is the perfect place for her to be and they can protect her from all those seeking her power.
In the meantime, Rydan is the Guardian of his own source of power - the Fountain, one of a group of fountains located throughout this world.
I loved both Rydan and Rora. Rydan is the reluctant suitor - he realizes that Rora is his intended mate and Rora is the eager young miss who falls in love with this troubled mage.
But I'm not sure what happened towards the end of the book. It somehow seemed to come derailed with Rydan giving up his Guardianship to save Rora from the evil doers who want her power. The explanations were hard to understand and I found myself confused as to what was going on. It just seemed that Rydan's change of heart happened way to fast.
One thing I did like about both The Cat and The Storm is they happened simultaneously - from two different viewpoints. One book filled in the missing pieces of the other and I thought it an interesting thing for the author to do.

Grade: Both these get a 4 out of 5. The grade would have been higher but for the quibbles I had with each one.

Which one to choose, which one to choose?

I often have more than one book on the go at a time. I think there are quite a few of us like that. But lately I've gotten even worse!! It seems I read a book, put it down and then kind of forget where I put it. So I pick up another book, start reading it, put it down and forget where it is and move on. I also have "work" books and "home" books. Work books are the ones that I can safely take to work and if someone comes and asks what I'm reading I can show them.
Ice Storm by Anne Stuart is a good example of a 'work' book. I've come out of the closet a lot at work now. Most of my coworkers know I love romance books and that I'm headed to San Francisco to a romance writers conference. So I have no problem pulling that one out and showing them.
In fact I even have two coworkers reading and loving the Stephanie Plum books. One is all the way up to Eleven on Top and the other is reading Two to Score.
But as open as I've become in my love of romance, there are still some that I just wouldn't be comfortable with being seen reading in public. Such is the case with Warrior by Angela Knight. And that's one of the tamer covers.
Another book that I don't really consider a 'work' book that I'm reading is The Cat by Jean Johnson. While I don't mind the cover at all *g*, it's a bit too man-titty to pull out at breaks and lunch.





But I've never had so many books on the go as I do at the moment!! I don't know why that is! And then - I spend too much time on the computer to read them all!

I'm currently reading the above Ice Storm and Warrior. As well I'm also reading Time's Captive by Kate Lyon. This is my TBR book for Keishon's challenge in July. It' s proving to be a very emotional book so I can only read bits at a time.
I'm also part way through Tall Tales and Wedding Veils by Jane Graves. I've loved her books in the past and it's not a bad 'work' book.
I started Netherwood by Michele Lang but it's proved to be one of the books I've misplaced *sigh*. I'll find it - I know I will - and then I'll be back to it.
I was so taken with the Authors Talk series, I ordered a couple of Jill Monroe books and I've started reading Primal Instinct.
(and here's a fascinating post they did on how Author Talk came about.)

So - I just counted. That's seven books I have on the go right now!
Is anyone else a multiple book reader like me? And if so, what's the most you've had on the go at one time?

Recent Reads

The Song by Jean Johnson

Why this one: Well, I’ve loved and enjoyed each and every single one I’ve read so far so it really was a no-brainer I’d continue with the series.

Steam Level: Pretty hot – not as much as the first three – but would still burn fingers

Author Web Site Blurb: Eight brothers, born in four sets of twins, two years apart to the day—they fulfill the Curse of Eight Prophecy. To avoid tempting their destiny, the brothers are exiled to Nightfall Island , where women are forbidden. This presents a challenge for the brother whose magic has been destroyed…

Evanor, fourth-born of the Sons of Destiny, lost his voice—and with it, his powers—in the violent battle that freed his family from their greatest enemy. Thankfully, with the safe return of his twin, Evanor now knows precisely who can bring his songs back to life.

She is the enchanting widow Mariel, a Healer brought to Nightfall to help the brothers in their hour of need. For Mariel and her young son, that means leaving their beloved homeland for the unfamiliar island of Nightfall and its still-forbidden shores…and with it, risking the passion she stirs in her intriguing patient’s heart.

But a new danger looms when the Council of Katan learn there might be women on the Isle…

My thoughts: Hmmm. For me so far, this is the weakest book in the series so far. While certainly readable, it just didn’t grab me the way the first three did. I think part of the reason was Evanor and Mariel were already half in love when the story began, so there wasn’t the initial spark between them. In addition, they were both pretty Beta characters. Mariel is a healer and Evanor the gentlest of the eight brothers I think, thus another reason for the lack of sparkage. In fact, they became lovers before I really was aware of it. Don’t know how I missed it. Because there wasn’t much conflict between the two of them, most of the conflict came externally when the Council of Katan found out something fishy was going on with the exiled brothers. This part was interesting and again, I enjoyed the way each of the brothers had their own roles to play when they were confronted. The author also has a great way of blending in so many characters with each of them having an integral part of the story.

Something else that bothered me though, was the huge amount of time devoted to creating their own version of cell phones. It felt like filler and to be honest, filler that kind of went above my head.

Still, since I’m reading the whole series, I’m glad I read this one. It moves the story along and we get to see more of the most intriguing brother so far, Rydan. But alas, the grade isn’t quite as high for The Song. But I have The Cat ready to read and just because this one didn’t work quite so well as the others, I’m still looking forward to the next installment very much.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

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Love Letters from a Stranger – Toni Blake

Why this one: Well, Katie liked it and sent it on to me. With a whole boat load of books thought I’m not sure why exactly I picked this out of the pile.

Steam Level: Better blow on it first, cause this one is hawt!

Author website blurb: The last thing she needs right now is a man

Lindsey Brooks had it all—an awesome job doling out advice to the lovelorn, a fabulous high-rise apartment, and a to-die-for fiancé. But then she got dumped—wearing nothing but a Kiss the Cook apron—and desperate to escape, she retreats to a tiny Montana town to reclaim a family treasure. She never dreamed anyone would try to stop her – or that he’d be sexy as sin.

Too bad she finds such a hot one …

Rob Colter isn’t into relationships—but Lindsey sees Rob as the perfect guy to help her “get back on the horse.” The sex horse, that is. Unfortunately, he comes complete with a mysterious past, which gets even more mysterious when she finds his passionate letters to another woman – whose name happens to be tattooed on his chest.

And too bad he has so many secrets …

Now Rob’s dangerous past is about to catch up with them both. And if that’s not horrible enough, Lindsey is falling for him – hard. For a girl who usually has all the answers, Lindsey is up to her neck in trouble.

My Thoughts: First off I have to say a Great Big Huge thanks to Katie for sending me this one. I. L.O.V.E.D. I.T.

The author says it’s a cross between Men in Trees meets Sex and The City and that is an apt description. I loved, loved, loved Rob. I’ve said before that I love a blue collar kind of hero. I’d take one of them over a white collar type any day. And Rob is a great blue collar kind of guy. He builds things and also runs the local canoe renting for tourists business. Works with his hands he does. I like that in a hero. He’s also a big grouchy teddy bear type and I love that kind too. And there’s another side to him that goes right to my ‘what I love in a romance novel” side to him – but I don’t want to give that away since it’s not revealed until later on in the story. As Katie can attest – he’s the kind of hero you just want to hug and hug and not let go of.

Lindsey, on the other hand is a girly, girl type – the kind that’s heavy into shoes and that kind of thing. Often times this kind of heroine gets on my nerves since it’s the opposite of me. But sometimes, if the author writes her right – it can work. Blair Mallory is one of those who really ‘works’ for me. And as does Lindsay. While I can’t relate to a lot of what makes her tick, still, she is a very likeable heroine and I warmed up to her quite early in the book. I got quite a kick out of her thing for shoes and her initial horror at wearing Keds! And then later on, she was so thrilled at getting a new pair of hiking boots – and then getting them muddy in the rain. And she really was quite a bit deeper then she first came across as at first.

This is a wonderful story of two opposite people falling in love and appreciating their differences.

I have a couple other of her books not read yet that I’m going to find and then get all the rest of her back list I can find! I’m ecstatic that I’ve found yet another new-to-me author I can rave about.

Thanks again Katie!!

Grade: 4.75 out of 5

Recent Read

The Master by Jean Jonson

Steam Level: Well – the hero has to perform Tantric sex – need I say more?

Why this one: Well – I had so much fun in the TBR challenge with The Sword and The Wolf, I had to continue with the series!

Amazon Blurb: Kidnapped and put on the auction block, Dominor is sold to Lady Serina, arithmancer extraordinaire. Initially outraged, he is soon curious as she explains that she needs him not as a slave but as an assistant. An inadvertent spell cast hundreds of years ago is the root of the battle between the sexes and the war that is ravaging her world. She has found a way to reverse the spell, but she needs a strong male mage to help. Dom has yet to back down from a challenge, and he finds the lady to be as pleasantly challenging as the task itself. Johnson turns up the heat in her third outing in the Sons of Destiny series (The Sword, The Wolf, 2007) as Dom and Serina not only engage in their own battle of wills but also relish practicing the tantric skills needed to cast their spell. Johnson's quirky, modern-touch sense of humor is a keynote in her historical fantasy, and the series grows more intriguing as each brother fulfills his part of the prophecy.

My Thoughts: I can’t say enough about how much I’m enjoying this series! Dominor kind of fits his name in that he is quite arrogant – in a charming way. It’s interesting to see how this total and completely sure of himself hero suffers the indignity of being captured and sold as a slave. I can’t imagine anyone less humble. Yet he accepts with his own estimable aplumb and decides to see what happens. Of course the thought of Tantric sex is not something he sneezes his nose at as they need lots of practice before hand to make sure they get it right.

Although he was arrogant as all get out, he was also a fascinating character. I think he might be my favourite hero in the series so far. And Serina is an equally great match for him.

Ms. Johnson’s heroines are interesting. The first couple were the typical virgin heroines – ok, well they weren’t typical, but you get what I’m saying. But Serina had ‘known’ a few men before she met Dominor and she has a healthy enjoyment of sex. She's a genius in her particular area of magic but in her personal life she is a scatterbrain. Being a scatterbrain myself in many ways, I really liked her. And I loved the way Dominor took charge of her and took care of her. He reminded me a bit of JD Robb's Roarke in that way. He freely admitted and without any issue about it at all, that Serina was smarter than him and he admired her for it. Can I say I really liked that part of him.

A great deal of the story took place in the land she was living in, so we didn’t get as much time with the extended family in this one. And I really enjoy all the brothers with their varying personalities. But towards the end of the book the family were together again.

There was an especially tender moment between Dominor and his twin brother Evanor, who lost his magic, his voice in the previous book.

As Katie said in the previous post, it’s wonderful discovering new authors and it’s been wonderful discovering Jean Johnson!

And for the shallow me – although they are all very similar, this is my favourite cover.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

TBR Challenge - May

Sub-title

A 3-fer

Once again, today is the day to post reviews for books from our TBR pile that Keishon has challenged us to.

Now I almost feel like I’m cheating with this first book. I know the rules say the book can come out in 2007 or before – but 2007 wasn’t really that long ago. But…. I console myself with this a caveat.

One of the symptoms of this addiction called book buying for me, and I know others, is buying a number of books in a series before ever trying one. I’ve done this a few times with different authors with varying results. With the Dark series by Christine Feehan, I purchased about five before actually trying one, only to discover they weren’t my cupa at all! Mind you I bought them used at a UBS – with a refund for books I had traded in, so I wasn’t really out that much money.

But on other occasions I go right wild. Such was the case with the Sons of Destiny series by Jean Johnson. I bought the first one, The Sword because it appealed to the shallow me who liked the cover. Mind you I also read a pretty good review of it somewhere so between the review and the Really Nice Cover, I was hooked. And not only did I buy it – I bought it in trade size which is quite a bit more than pp, although not so much when buying on line I’ve discovered. I still hadn’t read it when the addiction took over and I bought the second one, The Wolf, again in trade size.

Another symptom of this book buying addiction is justifying. We can find any excuse to justify buying books. So as more of this series came out, I justified the fact that I was going to keep buying by telling myself I already had the first two, I couldn’t stop now could I and I was still liking the covers. So I was up to having bought the first four – in trade size before even reading one!

So while is book was just published in 2007, it seems like I’ve had it longer.

Now onto the review(s)!

The Sword by Jean Johnson

Published: January, 2007

Can a book be called adorable? Because if it can, this is the perfect word to describe The Sword. This is a series about four sets of twin brothers living in a mystical, magical realm who have been banished to their own island because of a prophesy. Most important of all, there can be no women on the island because the prophesy states that it is a woman who starts the prophesy ball rolling. When Morganen, the youngest brother brings a woman through his scrying mirror in order to save her life; a woman in danger of being burned to death, Sabre, the oldest brother and our hero is not exactly a happy camper. He wants her sent home – ASAP. Kelly, the heroine, is from present day times here on earth and has been rescued by devious yet loveable Morganen. He has decided that it’s time to get the prophesy started with his oldest brother.

Kelly and Sabre battle each other and reading about them is a real hoot. Kelly also decides that a castle that’s been lived in by eight guys needs a lot of work and it’s also a real treat watching her order these tough magical brothers around. They each have their own distinct personality and their own prophesy to look forward too.

Now the conflict comes in because someone from the mainland doesn’t want these brothers around and sends horrid and evil creatures to take them down and it’s great reading seeing how they all use their unique talents to thwart said evil creatures; along with taking advice from non-magical Kelly.

I adored this book and was mighty glad that sometimes strange reading symptoms take over and I have the next three to look forward too.

I found the world building to be believable and while if I sat down and concentrated I might have found some of the brother magic a bit questionable as to when it worked and when it didn’t. But I didn’t, I just enjoyed the journey – and a very enjoyable journey it was!

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

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I figured since I had time, I’d dig deeper into the TBR pile for the next one. I have more Harlequin books than you can imagine so I decided I’d start reading them too finally. I consider Harlequins to be the cotton candy of romance books. They’re light and fluffy though not very nutritious. But when you’re in the mood for it – it really fits the bill

So the first one on the list is an old one.

Gabriel Hawk’s Lady by Beverly Barton

Published: December 1997

She has moved on now to single title books but before she did she wrote quite a few Harlequin books.

For a light, fluffy, cotton candy book, this one was pretty good. Gabriel Hawk is a former CIA agent who operated under cover in some Central American country. He gave up working for them when he couldn’t save a missionary and his wife, who was also the daughter of the countries king from being beheaded by rebels.

Now, four years later, Rorie, the sister of the missionary has hired Gabriel to take her back to the country, now in even worse shape, to rescue her young nephew. Gabriel does NOT want to take this young innocent with him, but she insists and manages to pass every test he puts before her, thus earning his respect.

This is typical Harlequin, the tough but tortured hero, the young innocent virgin heroine. It’s also pretty clichéd, but then one knows that going in when reading a Harlequin. And this is one of the better ones. I was in the mood for cotton candy and this one fit the bill.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

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The Wolf by Jean Johnson

Published: April, 2007

Can a book be called adorable? Wait – I already did that. OK then, I need to do it different this time.

I was so pleased with The Sword, right after reading GW’sL, I dove right into this one. And I’m very pleased to say I enjoyed this one just as much as her first book. This one is the story of Wolfer (I know – groan worthy name – but don’t let it distract you - besides he can shape-shift and his main form to shift to is a wolf) the twin of Sabre, the hero of The Sword and his destined mate Alys. Before they were banished Wolf’s family and Alys’s family were friends and there was a special friendship between Wolfer and Alys. Years later however, things have changed for both of them. Wolfer has been banished along with his brothers and Alys has come under the thumb of her very evil uncle. She manages to escape and flees to Nightfall Isle – the home of the eight brothers. Wolf is delighted to see his old friend but also confused that he feels a whole lot different for a grown up, matured Alys then he did for his childhood friend.

It turns out that her evil uncle is the one behind all the attacks and once again they must all ban together to defeat their enemy.

This one was just a charming and delightful as The Sword and while not laugh out loud funny, I did find myself smiling in quite a number of places and I was glad I was on the late shift at work so no one was around at breaks and lunch so I could keep reading this delightful tale.

The first two are out in PB now for anyone not wanting to pay trade sized prices and I already ordered The Cat, the fifth book in this series. In trade size of course though. I have to be anal about these books.

One thing I should also mention is that Ms. Johnson can write mighty fine and mighty hawt love scenes - just in case anyone is wondering that is. These first two were Very Steamy.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

So - once again I had great success from my TBR pile. I'm loving this!!