Review: What Chris Wants by Lori Foster

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What Chris Wants
Series: Men Who Walk the Edge of Honor #4.5
Author: Lori Foster
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

When the going gets tough, the tough turn to Chris Chapey. As the right-hand man to a group of take-no-prisoners mercenaries, Chris can organize a top secret rescue mission with his eyes closed. But when it comes to his personal life, Chris is the one who needs a little help.

His problem: Matt Houser. Chris can’t deny his attraction to Matt, but Matt has no idea what Chris’s job really entails and how much it means to him. Matt challenges Chris to change his life—and make a place for him in it. Can Chris risk telling him the truth?

MY THOUGHTS

Before I start this review, I want to take a moment to thank author Lori Foster for writing this story.  Chris was not suppose to originally have a story of his own in this series from what I understand.  With fans of this series begging her to give Chris a Happily-Ever-After, author Lori Foster listened and gave the fans what we asked.  Thank you for taking our pleas into consideration!

After following this series from the beginning, we have read about Chris Chapey and everything he does to keep those Alpha men going.  He is by no means an ‘errand boy’, but the heart and soul of the organization.  With What Chris Wants, we finally get to see him find his HEA in Matt Houser.  Matt has been in previous books and was the perfect fit for Chris.  I was a little apprehensive in wondering how the author was going to make a M/M story unfold since I don’t remember reading anything by her in this specific sub-like-genre. Well she pulled it off with easy grace!  I loved how she approached it and executed it.  It wasn’t over the top and it wasn’t too detailed. Every once in a while, I like my romance to fade to black and this fit the bill in the bedroom area.

While I wish that it would have been a full length novel, I can’t say I am disappointed.  The ending was a little rushed, but not enough to ruin the experience. Well done Ms. Foster. Now figure out another character in this series and bring us more!

MY RATING

Very Good! I would recommend this book!

Review: Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

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Dead Until Dark
Series: Sookie Stackhouse #1
Author: Charlaine Harris
Genre: Paranormal Romance
ISBN: 9780441016990

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Sookie Stackhouse is a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. She’s quiet, keeps to herself, and doesn’t get out much. Not because she’s not pretty. She is. It’s just that, well, Sookie has this sort of “disability.” She can read minds. And that doesn’t make her too dateable. And then along comes Bill. He’s tall, dark, handsome – and Sookie can’t ‘hear’ a word he’s thinking. He’s exactly the kind of guy she’s been waiting for all her life.

But Bill has a disability of his own: He’s a vampire. Worse than that, hangs with a seriously creepy crowd, with a reputation for trouble – of the murderous kind.

And when one of Sookie’s colleagues is killed, she begins to fear she’ll be next …

MY THOUGHTS

I originally read this book around the time that True Blood first started airing on HBO.  At that time, the show had better appeal to me so I couldn’t remember how much the book differed from the show.  So after I quit watching the show for awhile, I decided to give this series another chance.  I am so glad I am giving them another try!

I think when I tried reading this book before, I kept comparing it to the characters and story line of the HBO show.  With the book I noticed certain characters are missing and the story plays out on a different time table at times.  I can definitely tell with the world building, character building and overall cast of characters that this book is more of a guilty indulgence than one that blew me out of the water.  It was even kind of childish at times with temper tantrums and a crew of Barney Five cops trying to solve the murders in town.

I am still on the fence about liking the cast of characters.  I can’t wait to read more about Eric, Pam and Lafayette.  Bill seems a little off to me but I am going to give him the benefit of the doubt and keep my fingers crossed that he is better in the next one.  And then we have Sookie. Sookie, Sookie, Sookie. Just saying her name makes me laugh.  I wasn’t a fan of her in this book, but I am curious to understand why she has this disability and what it could mean.

Overall, it had cheesy moments, sexy moments, detailed moments, and bloody moments as well since this is a book about vampires.  I am going to keep going with the series though just so I can see how everyone’s roles will play out.

MY RATING

Okay book, but it left me wanting more!

Review: The Stranger by Kyra Davis

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The Stranger, Just One Night Part One
Author: Kyra Davis
Genre: Erotica/Romance
ISBN: 9781476711102
Review E-Book Copy provided by NetGalley

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Kasie knows who she’s supposed to be. But one passionate night with a mysterious stranger will teach her who she wants to be. 

You should sleep with a stranger, her best friend whispers in her ear as they take to Vegas for one last pre-wedding fling. Despite her best intentions, when Kasie Fitzgerald enters the casino and sees him, a man whose tailored clothes belied a powerful, even dangerous, presence, she loses herself to the moment. Maybe it’s the dress, much shorter than she’d ever normally wear, or the Scotch, but something makes her give herself over to him more completely than she’s ever done with a man before.


It was supposed to be just one night. But right as she’s thinking she wants more, he shows up in her office with an agenda. As the billionaire CEO of a company that’s engaged her PR firm, his demands just became her reality…and he desires so much more than just some attention in the boardroom.

MY THOUGHTS

I am having problems writing this review not because of the writing from the author, but from a major plot point that irks me.  Why are the last few books I have read about one person cheating on another? I don’t like this happening in real life and I certainly don’t like it in my books.

Kasie is engaged to a man named Dave.  While Dave is orderly and not quite passionate in the bedroom area, he is stable and compatible.  When her friend suggests they go to Vegas, she also tells Kasie to have fling with a stranger.  I didn’t find her friend to be to supportive and frankly a lousy friend for suggesting this.

Kasie meets Mr. Robert Dade at the Blackjack table.  They make a wager and Kasie loses.  She now must pay up by having a drink with him at the bar.  Things progress from the bar to his room and leads to a wild and passionate filled escapade.  After the deed is done, Kasie takes off and leaves him alone.

Upon returning to her regular life, she falls back into the role of nice and sweet.  She is not wild and doesn’t like people getting the wrong idea about her.  Mr. Dade contacts her company and requests Kasie to work on his file.  When they meet to discuss the plans of the work she will do, Robert throws out how they are going to be doing it again.  He teases her through the meeting and she leaves.  When she shows up early for a regular meeting with his company, they do the naughty again in his office. She tells him this is the last time. She has just been out shopping for engagement rings with Dave.

This is where I couldn’t read any further.  While the writing wasn’t bad and the author did pretty well with the building of the story, I just couldn’t continue reading about the affairs.  Kasie had plenty of chances to break it off with Dave, but she never says a word to him.  To me, cheating is wrong and I just didn’t like reading about someone doing this.

If a reader doesn’t mind escaping into the fantasy world for a bit that involves cheating, then by all means give this book a try.  The writing is good and the characters are just okay, but this is one story I just didn’t love.

MY RATING

       
I did not like this book at all!
DNF

Review: A Night of No Return by Sarah Morgan

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A Night of No Return
Author: Sarah Morgan
Genre: Adult Romance
ISBN: 9780373131044

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

Money, charm and sensual skills don’t make up for a heart colder than ice…

Wild parties, wanton women, relentless work—nothing helps tycoon Lucas Jackson escape his dark and haunting past. Arriving at his rural castle in a snarling snowstorm, he craves only complete isolation.… But it seems oblivion can take an unexpected and highly intoxicating form!

Personally delivering the vital file left on her boss’s desk, secretary Emma Gray starts to seriously regret her dutiful overtime mission. She never expected the dark side of the usually controlled Lucas could generate such a primitive, powerful—and entirely inappropriate—reaction.

MY THOUGHTS

I have never been a big reader of the classic Harlequin line and I usually only read the Nocturne books in their serial lines.  For some reason though, the summary drew me in and I decided to give them a try.

The first third of the book is about Emma and Lucas being trapped in a fancy castle that Lucas owns with his partners/friends from work.  There is a bunch of narration in the first third of this book to set up the story that will follow in the rest of the pages.  While I appreciate some initial set up in a story, this one was heavy on it. I liked the mystery of why Lucas was the way he was.  I actually liked Lucas better than Emma character-wise.  Emma seemed dull and at times a little dense.  If this man who is drinking and telling a someone to leave several times while his anger is simmering below the surface, you would think a smart woman would back off at least.  Nope, she continued to push and he pushed right back with sexual need.

The next part of the book is after the do the naughty in front of a fire.  It is about Emma traveling with her boss Lucas out of country to a company party and meeting.  They are trying to move past what they did and trying to bring the relationship back to the professional level.  Lucas repeatedly tells Emma that he doesn’t do love and family.  He is a use them and leave them type of man.  He starts to reveal reasons of why he is like this to her and solves a little bit of the questions on this.

The last part of the book is Emma setting Lucas up to deal with his reasons in not finding love.  I didn’t like the way she went about it and it didn’t seem real plausible.  I am suppose to believe that one night of dealing with something is going to change years of guilt and blame?  It just didn’t feel right for me.  I still couldn’t feel happy about the outcome of this story when I finished the last page.  The chemistry wasn’t that great — mainly because I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy Emma’s role that much — and the ending was not only rushed but far fetched too.

I will say though that this book served as a fluffy romance that was also a quick read.  Something I was initially looking for but wanting more for the next read.

MY RATING

If the library doesn’t have it, don’t worry about reading it!

Review: Mistletoe Cowboy by Carolyn Brown

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Mistletoe Cowboy
Series: Spikes & Spurs #5
Author: Carolyn Brown
Genre: Romance
ISBN: 9781402270154

SUMMARY
(From Goodreads)

‘Tis the season for… 

A matchmaking grandma on a long-disantance mission 
Mistletoe temptation in every doorway 
A sexy cowboy with a killer smile

When Gran Presely agrees to sell Creed Riley the Rockin’ C Ranch for a song at Christmastime, he can hardly believe his good fortune. There’s just one little catch-her tantalizing granddaughter Sage is part of the deal…

MY THOUGHTS

It is the season for Holiday romance!  I enjoy curling up by our fireplace with a roaring fire, cup of cocoa, and a sexy romance to read.  I was looking forward to reading Mistletoe Cowboy by Carolyn Brown this holiday season because I usually love anything by this author.

Unfortunately, this was not one of my favorites by this author.  I couldn’t get into the plot and Sage was not a favorite character for me.  She was snotty and stand offish.  I just couldn’t bring myself to care about her turmoil and personality.  Creed was a little more likable, but he was still on the dull end of the spectrum.  When these two are put together in an unlikely situation, the chemistry fizzled and never really took off for me. This book has a bunch of stereotypes including speech that kept me from truly enjoying it.

While I consider this a light and fluffy read for the holidays,  I don’t consider it a feel good romance that filled that reading hunger I was looking for.  It wasn’t a book I couldn’t stop reading and it wasn’t one I kept wanting to finish until the last page.  Others might enjoy this type of read, but I wanted a little more substance and chemistry in my reading.

MY RATING

If the library doesn’t have it, don’t worry about reading it!