What I read on my summer vacation - Part 2

See - I told you I was busy reading. These are the other 2 books I read while on my summer vacation at the cottage.

How to Loose and Extraterrestrial in 10 days by Susan Grant

Why This One: Susan Grant is an autobuy author for me - has been for ages

Steam Level: Oh this one is nice and steamy

Author Website Blurb:

Question: Where's the best place to hide an interstellar fugitive? Answer: Suburbia

His internal computers are offline, his former employers want him dead and the Men in Black are after him. Without his cyberpowers, Reef is as weak as a lowly Earthling. He's tried to kill every human he's met--so why on Earth would they help him?

Evie Holloway needs a bodyguard! Her fledgling chocolate business is mistaken as a money-laundering scheme for the mob and the bullets have started flying. But does the suburban soccer mom really want to shelter the alien hit man who almost offed her future brother-in-law?

She is desperate, and Reef is incredibly sexy. "Ten Days," she tells him--but it turns out that ten days just might be long enough to spark a love that's truly out of this world.

My Thoughts: As I said, Ms. Grant has been an autobuy author for a while now and I have her entire back list except for her anthologies. This is the third book in a series. Number one is Your Planet or Mine. Number two is My Favourite Earthling.

I hate to be less than positive about this book - I really do - but it's not really my favourite. There's no question it has a lot going for it. I adored Reef. He was stolen from his family on a rather primitive planet and had his memory wiped and turned into a ruthless, souless part cyborg assassin. When he is cut off from his internal computers, he is like a lost soul who has to start almost all over again. And he suffers great stress as he slowly recovers his humanity. And being as he has been a cyborg assassin for most of his his life, he's one of those yummy virgin heroes so many of us like.

So Reef gets a BIG thumbs up, 5 star marks from me in hero material. The not so good part comes in the form of the heroine. I found Evie to be a bit on the whiny, indecisive TSTL side . Her family is high up in government circles but she has always shunned this aspect of the family, deciding instead to try and live a normal life. She's a divorced woman with the proverbial jerk of an ex. Try as I might, I couldn't really relate to her issues or really warm up to her. I couldn't help thinking Reef deserved someone with more backbone then Evie who was willing to give up her dreams for rather wishy washy reasons.

I don't know if the other issues I have will make any sense or not - probably not. But when I read SciFi or Futuristic romance, I prefer to have them take place in other worlds or galaxies. There is this whole Rah, Rah, isn't Earth great tone to a number of the stories that take place here and to be honest, when compared to some of the planets and worlds in this genre, Earth isn't that great a place. Because Earth is involved, it's harder to enjoy the escapism that is this genre and taking world politics into consideration, this is one fucked up planet. If I were an alien world, looking down at all the crap that goes on, I'd steer far away and look for a better, less screwed up place to visit. I find the whole patriotism thing for Earth annoying.

Does that make sense to anyone? *sigh* probably not.

All that makes this one a hard one to grade. The writing is good. The hero is EXCELLENT. The heroine isn't so good. And I had problems with the setting and the whole nationalism thing.

Grade: I'll give this one a 3.5 out of 5.

Killer Charms by Marianne Stillings

Why this one: I adored the previous two in the series

Steam Level: Nice and hot!

Author Website Blurb:

If he could really see the future, he’d know that Andie Darling always gets her man.

Logan Sinclair is nothing but a fraud - or at least that’s what Inspector Andie Darling, undercover detective on the streets of San Francisco, is determined to prove. Sure, the sexy Scotsman may claim to be clairvoyant, but Andie’s never believed in second sight (or love at first sight, for that matter). So why does his sweet talk turn her into a lovestruck fool?

Getting the goods on the elusive con man would get Andie out of boring Vice and into Homicide, yet all she can think about is getting into Logan’s arms. But juggling her job and her heart leaves her with little time to protect herself from a killer hot on her heels, or deal with the hypnotic dreams she’s been having of a time long past.

Logan would love to help Andie solve both mysteries, but charm and clairvoyance might not be enough to save her now . . .

My Thoughts: This is the third book and is Andie's story. She is the sister of the heroes in Arousing Suspicions and Satisfaction. While I enjoyed it, I didn't find it quite as charming and quirky as I did the first two books. Neither the hero or heroine seemed to come quite as alive as those in the previous books. When Andie was put on the case, there didn't seem to be any real good reason for going after Logan. And without a believable premise to start with, there was something just a tad off about the whole book. Later on in the story she allows herself to be blackmailed and rather than going to her brothers to help her, she goes along with the blackmailer. I never have sympathy with characters who allow this to happen so I found that a bit bothersome.

And Logan seemed to be rather underdeveloped as a hero. I know that it was done purposely because he had secrets that he needed to keep. But that kept us from really knowing him as a character. And the trademark funny moments that Ms. Stillings has in her books weren't as apparent in this one. I think I've mentioned that I read her first book and while it had a lot of potential, it didn't really work for me. When I read Arousing Suspicions and Satisfaction she seemed to have reached that potential I saw. Sadly, for me, Killer Charms is a slight step back. Despite that though, I do look forward to her next book and hope she's back on top again.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5

Recent Read

I have a number of reviews upcoming including another duo review with Katie. Luckily I've been reading lately. So here is the first of a number of my recent reads

Satisfaction by Marianne Stillings

Type: Romantic Suspense

Heat Level: Very nice and made me happy

Amazon Blurb: Hotshot private eye Ethan Darling regularly risks his life to collar dangerous criminals, but he’s pretty sure his latest assignment will be as easy as apple pie. He’s the new bodyguard for Gerogiana Mundy, culinary queen and host of her own top-rated TV show. But while protecting the delicious diva from a man in her past, he’s surprised to find that it’s not just her delectable desserts that are making his mouth water.
It’s getting harder and harder for Ethan to keep his mind off the brunette bombshell and on his job. Soon he and Georgie are creating some incredible heat – both in and out of the kitchen. But if Ethan can’t hunt down the dangerous enemy out to destroy her, he and his new love are going to get burned.

Why This One: Earlier this year I read and loved Arousing Suspicions by Marianne Stillings. I said at the time that I saw great potential for this author in her first book even though it didn’t work for me and that she reached that potential in Arousing Suspicions. I’m very happy to report that Satisfaction also met very much with my approval.

My Thoughts: This book is a real delight! I loved both the main characters. Ethan is the troubled brother of Nate from Arousing Suspicions. For those who read it, Ethan was quite reticent in that book and in this one we find he has very good reason to be the way he is. He suffered a great loss in his past and is still dealing with it. He’s a wonderful hero and one who is very easy to fall for. He’s a hero just waiting to be loved and Georgie is just the heroine to love him.
For a while Georgie is rather resentful that her boss hired Ethan to be her bodyguard and find out what is going wrong. Georgie has some trust issues to overcome before she can let her guard down and finally trust Ethan with her own secrets.
She is a wonderful heroine. At first she comes across as almost too good to be true, but we gradually see past her perfect exterior and find a heroine very loyal to those she loves.
This book also holds some wonderfully funny parts too. I found myself chuckling out loud during a visit to a winery house party. This book gets a hearty thumbs up from me!
If you enjoy Susan Andersen, Rachel Gibson and that type, this should also be one you enjoy.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

'til later

Recent Reads

Surprisingly, even despite being almost brain dead for an hour after I got home from work this week, I did manage to get some reading in. First up

Visions of Heat by Nalini Singh

Type: Paranormal

Hotness Level: Hot

Amazon blurb: Used to cold silence, Faith NightStar is suddenly being tormented by dark visions of blood and murder. A bad sign for anyone, but worse for Faith, an F-Psy with the highly sought after ability to predict the future. Then the visions show her something even more dangerous-aching need...exquisite pleasure. But so powerful is her sight, so fragile the state of her mind, that the very emotions she yearns to embrace could be the end of her. Changeling Vaughn D'Angelo can take either man or jaguar form, but it is his animal side that is overwhelmingly drawn to Faith. The jaguar's instinct is to claim this woman it finds so utterly fascinating and the man has no argument. But while Vaughn craves sensation and hungers to pleasure Faith in every way, desire is a danger that could snap the last threads of her sanity. And there are Psy who need Faith's sight for their own purposes. They must keep her silenced-and keep her from Vaughn...

Why this one: I read her first book and while I had a few issues, I certainly liked it enough to try her again

My Thoughts: *sigh* I wondered if a time would come when I wasn't that set on a book and it arrived with this one. I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as most people seemed to. I had the same issues once again with the gobbledy gook phy net stuff as I did with the first one. In addition, there were things about this one that just annoyed me. For example, Vaughn always seemed to be carrying Faith. "He carried her to the bed". "He carried her from the car." "He carried her to the couch." Enough carrying already. But the one carrying that really had me scratching my head was when he was in leopard form and he carried her for miles on his back. He wasn't a horse for pete's sake! I was trying to picture this in my mind. I'm not sure about the exact size of leopards, but I don't think they are that tall. Wouldn't her feet have been hitting the ground? Or if she was laying on him, wouldn't she be trailing off the end of him?
Another thing that annoyed me was how lovey dovey touchy feely that were in the company of others after they mated. She's sitting on his lap, he's kissing her, rubbing his hand on her. Struck me as that annoyingly juvenile thing very young people in luuurrrvvveeee do to each other. Blech!
I just didn't feel this one the same as Slave to Sensation. I know I'm in the minority on this, but it just didn't work all that well for me. I'll try her next one and see how it goes before I give up.

Grade: 3.5 out of 5


Next up

One Real Cowboy byJanette Kenny

Type: Western

Hotness Level: Warm

Amazon blurb: Cord Tanner has a very simple plan: get paid to be Beatrix Northroupe's husband for a month so the prim, but very sexy, Englishwoman can gain rightful ownership to her family's stud farm. Money in hand, he's going to get as far away from Revolt, Kansas, as a fast horse can take him.

But Cord soon finds that he admires his Trixie's reckless courage--not to mention she's one great kisser. Maybe he's crazy to hope for a real future with her instead of heading for the hills, but now that someone's staking a dangerous claim to her farm, Cord's decided to stick around as long as the lady needs protecting. That wedding ring he put on her finger means her reputation is safe--and he's determined to win her heart. Cord Tanner may not be the most refined man on the frontier, but he sure is the lovingest.

Why this one: It's a new author. It's a Western. It was on for a good price. A trifecta!

My Thoughts: Well, I'm giving the author some leeway because she's new. And the book did have potential. But overall, it wasn't that great. It was good enough that I finished reading it, but there were some things that I thought needed tightening up. The villian for one thing was way over the top. The author even had him drooling. He was completely and totally repulsive, yet noone figured out he was the bad guy. It made them all seem kind of clueless. Also Beatrix, the heroine was one of those hot and cold kind of heroines. She didn't want to feel anything for the hero. But she did. But she didn't want to. I don't really care for dithering heroines. Cord was the best part of the book.
But, it wasn't a bad book. And it's very nice to see a Western. If you aren't a Western reader and thinking of giving them a try, I would say this probably isn't one of the better ones to start with, but if you do like Westerns and the price is right, it's not a bad read. I'll give her another chance too.

Grade: 3 out of 5



And finally

Arousing Suspicions by Marianne Stillings

Type: Romanctic Suspense

Hotness Level: Warm to Hot

Amazon blurb: Detective Nate Darling has put up with a lot of weird things since he's moved back to San Francisco—healing crystals, free range tofu, the SF Giants. But he's drawing the line at psychic dream interpretations.

Tabitha March claims she can see other people's dreams. In fact, she insists she "saw" a murder, and even provides Nate with explicit details of the crime. There's no doubt the curvaceous blue-eyed blonde knows something, but how is she involved? Is she the murderer? Because there's just no way that Tabitha can really "see" the killer's dream.

Then another body is discovered, just the way Tabitha described it would be. Now evidence suggests she may be the next victim. And Nate has to reconsider his beliefs or risk losing the woman he has fallen in love with . . . forever.

Why this one: Well, I tried her first book and was bitterly disappointed. While it started off just great, very very funny, but then the author lost me when she added murder to the plot in what struck me as a very jarring note. Still, the first part of the book had me thinking that she had great potential. I skipped her next few and then decided to try her again with Arousing Suspicions

My Thoughts: Sometimes I do it right!! I adored this book and for me Ms. Stillings more than lived up to the potential she showed in her first book. I found myself staying up late last night reading this one and then picking it back up first thing on waking this morning.
Both Tabitha and Nate were charming characters. They're banter back and forth was delightful and one scene in particular - on their first date in a French restaurant, had me laughing out loud. One thing I really enjoyed in this one was Nate was ready to commit and confess his love before Tabbie. He was pretty gone for her and I always like that in a romance. Tabbie was more reluctant but it was well explained why she had her issues.
I started reading another book, but I know that this one is going to get a reread - and soon! This one gets a happy thumbs up from me.

Grade: 4.5 out of 5

'til later