I’ve been slacking in my reviewing and posting about the books that I am reading. YES! I am actually reading books, so this will be a mass update. I’ve been reading mostly indie authors lately, gotta support and honestly a lot of them are damned good. But I have read a few mainstream books. I think I’m definitely achieving my goal of reading more than last year! I didn’t realize how many books I had read since the last time I updated.

1. Claimed (Book 1 in Brides of the Kindred Series) by Evangeline Anderson

This book was recommended and loaned to me by a friend. I have to say I was skeptical–sci-fi erotica. Not that because I have to write it, but because of the concept in the book. It’s a good book, however. An interesting read. My only problem with it is that the author skirted around and came very close to the rape line in concerns to the MC Olivia Waterhouse. It was a typical romance erotica, taking most of the plot to build the sexual tension before it could be released. All the action (and I don’t mean sexual action) happened at the end of the novel. I would have loved to have seen more of the action part and less of the introspection of the characters. 4 stars

2. Hunted (Book 2 in Brides of the Kindred Series) by Evangeline Anderson

Second book is FAR better than the first! There is so much action, sex and plot alike, that the story moves so much faster and is far more interesting than the first book. Sophia (Olivia’s twin) has a similar personality to her sister, and it isn’t until the middle of the book that they really seem different. The pace and the writing in this story are excellent, although sometimes the explanation of things gets a bit repetitive. I don’t need to know a hundred times what bonding sex for a blood kindred involves particularly if it’s the main point of the story. 4 stars

3. Bound with Pearls by Sidney Bristol

So…This is my first BDSM erotica novel to read. And it was fantastic! I loved the characters, I love the story line, I love just about everything about it. It really was great to read! Sidney did it again and dragged me into the story so much that I really could NOT put this book down at all. AND! I hear there’s going to be another one! w00t! There is the D/s aspect going on here as well as a personal relationship between the two MC’s, there’s also the annoying sister that always gets what she wants. 5 stars

4. The Next Always (Inn BoonsBoro #1) by Nora Roberts

I’m a sucker for ghosts and there are so totally ghosts in this book! LOVE IT! The love story in this novel is great. There are aspects that make it a non-traditional romance (previous marriage, widowed, three children). It all adds to the characters and their relationship. Again, still a typical romance novel, they do fall in love and get engaged at the end of it. =P 4 stars

5. Unfinished Business by Nora Roberts

This novel has a pianist in it. A book after my own heart. There is a musical aspect here that adds to the character, but not to the storyline by much. This novel has so much miscommunication between characters that it’s almost amusing but borders on annoying. It’s as if each character is too afraid to speak or say something that they might offend another character so nothing ever gets said. Usually people say things they shouldn’t and then just work through whatever issues arise from that. 3 stars

6. Wergild by J. L Hickey

I’m going to be honest–I never finished this story. I couldn’t. It might just not have been my cup of tea, but the plot and characters were so uninteresting that even after getting well over halfway through it, I couldn’t continue. This novel tries, I think, it be literary fiction, but it fails in the interesting and keeping of attention categories. It is a short read, a novella, so if you want to try it out, go for it. But I won’t be finishing it. 1 star

7. The Giver by Lois Lowry

I’ve read this book once before and I read it again. I still like it. I read it again because I plan on reading the rest of the series. This book makes me think so much about our society and what we are doing and what we want. It’s hard to have total equality and have individuality, and even this book cannot achieve total equality because there is still the giver. Check it out, it might blow your mind away. 5 stars

8. Vallidin by J. R. Brule

I didn’t finish this book either. The author contacted me and gave me a free copy to read for an honest review. I couldn’t push myself through the book. It’s not that the story might not be there, but the writing is so bad that I couldn’t overlook it. The sentences are short and choppy, there are a lot of continuity errors (sometimes in the same sentence), there is no hook to pull the reader in and I lost track easily of what was going on. I was not the only reviewer that felt this way. The book is no longer available, so my guess is that the author took it down. 0 stars

9. Little Disquietude by C. E. Case

Okay, so I might be slightly biased about this book because this here peoples, this is my publisher’s book and she is AWESOME! This is an awesome and sweet little femslash romance between some small-time actresses. And OMG talk about sexual tension! I was like…just do it already! but they didn’t and when they did it was awesome! The characters are so sweet and a good balance for each other. This really is a great read for just before bedtime. 4 stars

***

So that ends my reviews of the books I’ve read so far this year that does not include school books! yay for reading for pleasure!! There will be more as I have about 20 books left on my kindle that I need to finish and all the series that I started that have more books to them. I’ll try to keep this posted far more often, this is way too many for one blog!!