General Thoughts on Some Current Reads

Today I don’t have a proper review ready, but I do have things to say about the books I’ve been reading, so you get four mini-reviews for the price of one.

***** 

Claiming the Duchess by Sherry Thomas

Romance has the bad habit of using prequel novellas as samples, which usually backfires because novellas aren’t easy to write and they end up working as samples of bad writing. But I like Ms. Thomas’ books, so I was more than happy to read this prequel novella.

I really liked most of it, but the short length really hurt the story, because at its core there’s an act of deception and betrayal that needed more than one paragraph for the climax and ending to be satisfying and to do justice to a heroine that deserved much better. On top of that, the novella (or short story) ends around the 50% mark and the rest is promotional material, so having the book unexpectedly end when you think there’s still half of it to go, doesn’t make for the best reading experience.

Review: Love Irresistibly by Julie James

Source: a review copy was provided by the author and publisher through NetGalley.

The first Julie James book I read was Practice Makes Perfect, and that experience was as close to love at first sight as it gets. Ever since then, I’ve been a fan of Ms. James’ books, and each new release has been anxiously awaited. There have been some bumps in the road, but I continue to thoroughly enjoy her books.

Brooke Parker is the general counsel of a company that owns restaurants. U.S. Assistant Attorney Cade Morgan wants to use one of those restaurants to catch a dirty politician. He asks for her help, they catch the guy and they start a relationship. Sounds like I just spoiled the whole thing, right? Wrong! The catching of the bad guy is nothing but an elaborate meet-cute. Despite what the blurb says, this book is a straight Contemporary Romance, and there’s really no suspense subplot. Something I really appreciated.

H&H: Contemporary Romance Edition

I have a new post over at Heroes and Heartbreakers. This time I’m talking about my favorite current Contemporary Romance authors, which means that you won’t find Nora Roberts, Jennifer Crusie or Susan Elizabeth Phillips on the list. Instead, I mention authors that may not be as famous or whose careers are relatively new, but that I consider some of the best people currently writing Contemporaries. I know I’m leaving lots of people out, because lucky for us, there are many great authors out there, so I would love to hear your thoughts, if you have read any of those authors and who would make your list!

Review: About That Night by Julie James

I’ve said this over and over, Julie James is one of the best contemporary romance authors out there. Her books are hilarious without being ridiculous, her heroes are sexy and her heroines strong and relatable. All of her stories have been winners to me,  Practice Makes Perfect is on my Top 10 list of favorite books, and About That Night was one of my most anticipated books of the year. And that is why I’m so sad to tell you that we just hit a bump in the road because this book was definitely not a winner.

Kyle Rhodes has been on the spotlight his entire life. Son of a multimillionaire, his face has been part of the tabloids for years. However, he really became famous months ago when he hacked Twitter. Yes, it is as ridiculous as it sounds, his super model girlfriend publicly broke up with him through Twitter, he got drunk and thanks to his extraordinary intelligence, managed to shut down the social network causing panic everywhere. He went to prison but thanks to his sister, who made a deal with the FBI, he was released earlier than planned. The day of his last hearing a change of plans brings him face to face with Assistant U.S. Attorney Rylan Pierce, a woman he met years ago and hasn’t been able to forget.

Review: A Lot Like Love by Julie James

Julie James is the perfect definition of quality over quantity; I admit that I would love it if she could write one book a month because I really enjoy them, but since that is impossible one book a year would have to do.

In A Lot Like Love we meet Jordan Rhodes, she is the daughter of one of Chicago’s richest men. She is independently wealthy thanks to her business and to a down to earth father who wants his children to earn what they have. Some months ago her twin brother Kyle went to prison, and since then she has been sick with worry about him. So when the FBI offers to release him in exchange of her help to catch a crime lord and one of his associates (who happens to be a client of hers) she accepts. All she has to do is go to a party with an FBI agent posing as her date and distract the bad guy while the agent plants some bugs in the place. But all goes wrong when the nice and easygoing agent gets sick and is replaced by hot-alpha male-obnoxious Nick McCall, and they are forced to keep faking that they are dating when it turns out that the bad guy has feelings for Jordan.