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Category Archives: TBR Tuesday

TBR Tuesday – 31 January 2017

31 Jan

TBR Tuesday
TBR Tuesday is an opportunity to you to find and read those lost gems that might be hidden on your TBR shelves! In order to be eligible for TBR Tuesday a book should have been on your TBR pile for more than a year (so any book purchased prior to January 2016 is fair game right now. Let me know what book you read, how long it has been lost on your TBR pile and what you thought of it? Is it a hidden gem or a dusty throwaway or somewhere in between…

Made for Each Other – Morgan Ashbury
Bought:14 July 2010
Time of TBR: 2391 days

Review:
Sometimes as a reader, I want brain candy – that is, a book that really doesn’t make me think about anything while i’m reading, that is lite on drama and shenanigans and that is just there and Make for Each Other pretty much hit those wicked. It didn’t quite venture into the porn without plot realm, but the smexy parts did tend to outweigh the actual story (not that there was anything wrong with that because that was what I was in the mood for). I wouldn’t say that Made for Each Other ventured into the hidden gem realm, but it was definitely an improvement on some of the more recent books that I’ve dug out of Mt TBR. While I strugged with a guy being called Lesley (even though I know traditionally its a male name), his quirks were kind of funny and made him more relatable as a character. Overall a solid read and hit the spot for what I was looking for this past weekend.

 
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Posted by on January 31, 2017 in TBR Tuesday

 

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TBR Tuesday – 17 January 2017

17 Jan

TBR Tuesday
TBR Tuesday is an opportunity to you to find and read those lost gems that might be hidden on your TBR shelves! In order to be eligible for TBR Tuesday a book should have been on your TBR pile for more than a year (so any book purchased prior to January 2016 is fair game right now. Let me know what book you read, how long it has been lost on your TBR pile and what you thought of it? Is it a hidden gem or a dusty throwaway or somewhere in between…

Simply Sexual – Kate Pearce
Bought: February 9. 2009
Time of TBR: 2899 days

Review:
Another week, another book on Mt TBR and another book that was only so-so…I’ve heard good things about this author in the past and unfortunately, Simply Sexual just didn’t live up to my hopes for it. It was an ok book, don’t get me wrong – I gave it 3 stars, but it was good, but it wasn’t great. I think my biggest issue was that while Valetin’s backstory was interesting – it didn’t draw me in like it could have – while I felt detached like I think I was supposed to, I wanted more – it was just ehh…the scenes between Valentin and Sara were steamy in places but the rest of the book just mediocre at best…hidden gem Simply Sexual was not…but I’ll keep digging through the pile for that diamond in the rough

 
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Posted by on January 17, 2017 in TBR Tuesday, Uncategorized

 

TBR Tuesday – 10 January 2017

11 Jan

TBR TuesdaySo after a rather long hiatus, TBR Tuesday is back!

TBR Tuesday is an opportunity to you to find and read those lost gems that might be hidden on your TBR shelves! In order to be eligible for TBR Tuesday a book should have been on your TBR pile for more than a year (so any book purchased prior to January 2016 is fair game right now. Let me know what book you read, how long it has been lost on your TBR pile and what you thought of it? Is it a hidden gem or a dusty throwaway or somewhere in between…

And without further ado, here is my TBR Tuesday book and review!

Fire and Ice – Liz Andrews
Bought: Nov 26, 2009
Time on TBR: 2594 days

Review:
Some of the hardest reviews I find to write are those for books that I liked but didn’t love – those that probably fall into the mid-star range and Fire and Ice is a book like that. Fundamentally, there was nothing really wrong with it – I’d say that the whole sequence of events may have moved a bit too fast for me, even though I understand it was part of the whole fantasy aspect. It just for me felt a bit empty and mechanical at times – I didn’t really get the passion between Victor and Tanya at times. Fire and Ice was an ok read, I’d probably give it 2.5-3 stars but I don’t know if I would widely recommend it to people to read – it just didn’t have that kind of zing for me.

How about you – what book is your TBR Tuesday read?

 
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Posted by on January 11, 2017 in TBR Tuesday

 

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TBR Tuesday – 02 February 2016

02 Feb

TBR TuesdayWow, its the first week of February already…i don’t know about you, but it seems like the older I get, the faster the time flies. It also doesn’t help that I’ve been completely slammed at work with sometimes upwards of 3+ hours round trip for a commute. My book this week has had the dubious pleasure of being on Mt TBR for over 300 weeks…

When Alex Was Bad
Author: Jo Davis

Purchase Date: 29 October 2009
Date Read: 22 January 2009
Time on Mt TBR: 2276 days

Review:
So I bought this book back in 2009 while I was deployed to Iraq, so I don’t remember what the inspiration for purchasing it was, but it was later in the year not long before I headed home, so maybe I bought it as something for the flight home…and of course, then didn’t read it…lol! Reading When Alex Was Bad reminded me how much I like/enjoyed erotic romances that were written pre-50 Shades of Grey. It might be a personal preference of mine but I find books written back then to be much better in character and plot development with satisfying conclusions. Added to that Ms Davis took a lesser known romance plot (a couple that has been married for a while) and managed to weave a story line about rediscovering why they fell in love to begin with. She managed to push the boundaries with my comfort level in places (especially with the approved cheating of both of the husband and wife – normally not a fan of cheating in romances but it worked in relation to this story). While the rest of Ms Davis books are much more in the line of traditional contemporary or historical romance genres, I liked her foray into erotic romance and would be interested to read more.

 
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Posted by on February 2, 2016 in TBR Tuesday

 

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TBR Tuesday – 26 January 2016

26 Jan

TBR TuesdayWelcome back to the first official TBR Tuesday of 2016 (yes, I realize its nearly the end of January, work has been keeping me REALLY busy). I’m making it my goal this year to read at least 4 books a month off my archive pile (for me, this is any book that has been purchased at least 12 months prior to the date of the post). I hope you join me in tackling Mt TBR!

The Rest Falls Away
Author: Colleen Gleason
Series: #1 in the Gardella Vampire Hunters series

Purchase Date: May 28, 2010
Date Read: December 28, 2015
Time on Mt TBR: 2040 days

Review:
So there is kind of a funny story attached to my reading of this book. I bought this back in 2010 and promptly lost it in my archives (and never actually logged it as being owned on my Goodreads shelves – which is one of my major problems). Anyways, as I was browsing on Edelweiss one night, I came across the first 3 books in this series (including this one) all available on auto-approval (they were being re-released), so I grabbed them because the premise sounded intriguing. When I went to download the first book in the series to my kindle, I got several options in my archives – which made me stop for a second and scratch my head, thinking WTF…and thus, I realized my mistake. So while I am posting a short and sweet review for TBR Tuesday here – i’ll likely have a longer ARC version of a review to go live later on.

Keeping with the theme of short and sweet – I really liked how this series was developed – it was much more in the realm of urban fantasy than paranormal romance, so don’t be expecting a happy ending at the end of the first book (don’t say I didn’t warn you). It is definately a developing story arc. I loved how Victoria wasn’t a push-over and while she def. tried to act like a proper young maid in this book, you could see the inner conflict of her character, between how she had been raised, and what she was destined to become. I’ve already read the second book in the series, and look forward to continuing it.

 
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Posted by on January 26, 2016 in TBR Tuesday

 

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TBR Tuesday – 6 Oct 2015

06 Oct

TBR Tuesday While I’ve been horrible about actually posting reviews for my TBR Tuesday books, I have slowly but surely been chugging away at them. Many people know that I moderate a few groups on Goodreads and in one of them, the other mods and I came up with the idea of a challenge called Pillaging the Pile – where we would each set a goal for a three month period and see how many books from our TBR we could read in that time. There were two options that people could choose, books that had been on their shelves for more than 6 months, or those that had been there for more than 12 months. I had typically been picking the more than 12 month option, just because I have so many.

Anyways, the most recent iteration of the PtP challenge ended on September 30th, and I thought I would post a quick list of the books that I read during the preceding three month period and my initial thoughts on a few of the books, although you may see a few of them pop up as full reviews later on down the road.

1) Behind Closed Doors – Shannon McKenna – Bought Dec 2009 – Finished – 7/3/15
2) Crux – Moira Rodgers – Bought Oct 2010 – Finished 7/3/15
3) Remember When – Nora Roberts/JD Robb – Bought Apr 2012 – Finished 7/5/15
4) Silver Lining – Maggie Osbourne – Bought Sep 2009 – Finished 7/13/15
5) Haunted in Death – JD Robb – Bought May 2012 – 7/19/15
6) Three to Ride – Sophie Oak – bought Jan 2011 – Finished 7/18/15
7) Mouth To Mouth – Erin McCarthy – bought July 2009 – Finished 7/31/15
8) The Wallflower – Dana Marie Bell – Bought December 2009 – Finished 8/18/15
9) Hands on Research – Pam Champagne – bought February 2010 – Finished 8/28/15
10) Holiday Bound – Beth Kery – bought November 2010 – Finished 8/29/15
11) Kiss Me Again – Dee Tenorio – bought June 2009 – 8/30/15
12) Nice and Naughty – Jayne Rylon – Bought December 2009 – Finished 9/1/15 (i think this was a reread)
13) The Alchemist – Paulo Coelho – Bought August 2011 – Finished 9/3/15
14) Dark Harvest – Anitra Lynn McLeod – bought December 2011 – Finished 9/7/15
15) Deep in the Woods – Annabel Joseph – Bought November 2010 – Finished 9/7/15
16) Felicity Stripped Bare – Vanessa Jaye – bought August 2009 – Finished 9/11/15
17) Kink – Saskia Walker/Sasha White – bought April 2010 – Finished 9/13/15
18) Homecoming – Lacey Baker – bought October 2013 – Finished 9/16/15
19) Sacred Revelations – Roxy Harte – bought April 2010 – Finished 9/28/15

so I managed to cull my TBR pile down 19 books in that time period (of course, I probably added equally as many new books…lol). Hopefully, this next three month period will be as productive – I started with a goal of 10 books (which has been my base for the previous sessions, and i typically up it if needed).

 
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Posted by on October 6, 2015 in TBR Tuesday

 

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TBR Tuesday – 25 August 2015

25 Aug

TBR Tuesday
Behind Closed Doors
Author: Shannon McKenna

Date Purchased: 11 December 2009
Date Read: 3 July 2015
Time on Mt TBR: 2031 days

Review:
When I look back at the date this book was purchased, it was right before I left Kuwait in 2009 to head home from my year long deployment. So I think I may have purchased it to read on the plane, and then (if I remember rightly), we had really crappy internet and I was unable to download it to my computer to transfer to my kindle – so it got forgotten about until recently when I dug it out to read (mostly because it fit a book challenge, as well as hearing that the series was finally being released in audiobook format – it was an often requested one, so i’m honestly curious to see how it is in audio).

It’s also been a while since I’d read any really good romantic suspense type work, so that made it an enjoyable read. I’ll also admit that I’m a fan of book series with sibings/friends who work together (although at the same time, they can be too over-done if its a huge series all about siblings…but that is a gripe for another day). I will say that in a few places, it felt kind of dated (but when, what do you expect when the book was originally released 13 years ago). The storyline was well-developed and the enemy/evil character was believable. I liked how Raine didn’t have too many TSTL moments (although there were a few) and Seth, well, he was just all around kick-ass. I’ll admit that I’m intrigued enough that I want to continue the series (hopefully in the not too distance future)…Overall, I gave Behind Closed Doors 3.5/5 and looking forward to more books in the series.

 
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Posted by on August 25, 2015 in TBR Tuesday

 

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TBR Tuesday – 28 July 15

28 Jul

TBR Tuesday

Let’s talk about Forgotten Books (or books that have been designated as lost on Mt TBR). I’m a bit behind in my reading this week and don’t have a TBR book to post about, so I thought I would take a moment to write about the plight of forgotten books – these books just want to be loved, the same as all books. I mean, these sweet, innocent books, who through no fault of their own, ended up lost on someones pile, feeling neglected and unloved. (Ok, I write that partly in jest, but i’m sure if books had feelings they would probably say something like that).

When I look at books that I have read recently that fall within my TBR challenge, they fit into one of several categories:

1. Book was a freebie/cheapie – I don’t know about you, but I’m always on the lookout for a good deal when it comes to books (I’d probably go broke if I had to pay for all of the books I read each year). So when I see books by authors I like (or sound intriguing) that are on sale/free, then I normally one click them. I will admit that over the last year, I’ve gotten a bit pickier about the ones I have actually gotten, compared to early years of kindle ownership – but I still manage to get more books that I would probably read in a life time. These books normally languish in the pile until I get bored and start rooting through them; or I start to catalogue my purchases on Goodreads (and mentally go, why the heck did I buy that?) or when I need to book that fits a random reading challenge and one of those books randomly happens to fit.

2. Bulk Purchase of an Author – when I find a new author I love, I have a bad habit of bulk buying their books – often times, it will be their entire backlist. This could be especially exacerbated if there is a sale featuring books in a series (I managed to pick up the entire In Death series by JD Robb in audiobook a few years ago for about 1/3 the cost it would take the buy each one separately). Unfortunately, I then read several books by said author and find myself getting burnt out – so I put them aside and forget about them – until things like the Forgotten Book Challenge come along.

3. Books Given as Gifts – I always feel guilty when I get books as gifts – not because i don’t love them or appreciate them – but sometimes I’m just not in the mood for a certain book; or it just doesn’t work for me – so the book(s) get placed on the TBR pile and hopefully will get moved off in the future – but you just never know…

I’m sure there are probably other ways that books end up on Mt TBR, but these are the most popular ones for me. What about you – how do books end up on your TBR or are you a read as soon as purchase kind of person (if you are, i might hate you slightly!)

 
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Posted by on July 28, 2015 in TBR Tuesday

 

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TBR Tuesday – 21 July 15

21 Jul

TBR Tuesday
Silver Lining
Author: Maggie Osborne

Purchased: 20 September 2009
Date Finished: 13 July 2015
Time on TBR: 2123 days

Review After some disappointing TBR books, I was so happy to find one that made me realize why I came to love the historical romance genre. Silver Lining by Maggie Osborne reminded me of so many of the books I cut my romance teeth on back when I was a teenager (and was actually written not long after that time period). The characters in Silver Lining make frequent appearances in the fora of Amazon, especially when it come to talking about names, because the main female goes by Low Down for a portion of the book (rather than her real name of Louise). Personally, for me, I loved see the rough and ready Low Down finding her place in a relationship where she didn’t need to be strong/masculine (as she did in the mining camps) as well as finding the family that she never had growing up. The rest of the book and story was well developed and plausible – it didn’t take too much thought to see what was going to happen next and everything seemed evenly paced (it wasn’t a wham bam thank you ma’am kind of book, but rather took place over a 7-8mth period). The evil other woman (which I really like when done well) was present and for an “innocent young woman” she was definitely not so. I can’t wait to hoping dig into some more books by Ms Osborne in the future.

 
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Posted by on July 21, 2015 in TBR Tuesday

 

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TBR Tuesday – 30 Jun 15

30 Jun

TBR Tuesday
Love Slave for Two: Reckoning
Author: Tymber Dalton

Purchased: 29 October 2012
Date Finished: 17 April 2015
Time on TBR: 901 days

Review: When I think back to my progression of reading through different genres of romance, Tymber Dalton figures fairly prominently in them. One of my first BDSM romances (The Reluctant Dom) was one of hers, as was one of my first m/m romances; I read my first romance featuring a disabled character (Cross-Country Chaos) and even ventured into the world of science-fiction romance with her. So when I realized that I had one of her Love Slave for Two books still stashed on the pile, I was excited to dig into it because I was a fan of the series. However, to my disappointment, this entry in the series just didn’t hold the same magic for me. There wasn’t the spark that I’ve come to expect from her books – to me, there was too much focus on the “suspense” aspect that just wasn’t what I was looking for at the time. Maybe because it had been a feature in all three of the previous books (aside from the prequel) and I was just tired of it. Don’t get me wrong, the romance/smexy bits between Nevvie, Adam and Tyler were as hot as ever – but the rest of the story was just ehh to me…

This entry in the series only got 2.5 stars from me, but considering I’ve rated the rest of her books in the 4 star range, I guess its ok to have a disappointing one now and then. Thankfully, I know that this is an anomaly in Tymber’s writing and I will continue to read her stuff in the future.

 
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Posted by on June 30, 2015 in TBR Tuesday

 

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