photo KaKiJoKoJa_zps6827954d.gif
Karsyn's Kickass Jocoserious, Kooky, Jannock book blog: 2016

Monday, November 28, 2016

Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers #2) by Brenda Drake ~ COVER REVEAL!

guardian-of-secrets

Let us know what you think of the cover for Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers, #2) by Brenda Drake which releases February 7, 2017!

This cover reveal is brought to you by Entangled TEEN & YA Interrobang!


Brenda Drake's thoughts on the cover:

I had an idea of what I wanted the cover of Guardian of Secrets to look like the entire time I was writing the story. I was delighted (I might have screamed) when the cover showed up in my email and it was EXACTLY what I’d imagined. I love that it’s blue since part of the setting of the book takes place in a cold climate. I’m thrilled the couple is on it, too. They resemble the characters I’ve created in my mind perfectly. The cover is so beautiful, and I’m beyond excited to share it with everyone!

guardian-of-secrets_updated500


About Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers, #2):

Being a Sentinel isn’t all fairytales and secret gardens.

Sure, jumping through books into the world’s most beautiful libraries to protect humans from mystical creatures is awesome. No one knows that better than Gia Kearns, but she could do without the part where people are always trying to kill her. Oh, and the fact that Pop and her had to move away from her friends and life as she knew it.

And if that isn’t enough, her boyfriend, Arik, is acting strangely. Like, maybe she should be calling him “ex,” since he’s so into another girl. But she doesn’t have time to be mad or even jealous, because someone has to save the world from the upcoming apocalypse, and it looks like that’s going to be Gia.

Maybe. If she survives.

Want to read more? Pre-order your copy of Guardian of Secrets (Library Jumpers, #2) by Brenda Drake today!

add-to-goodreads
Amazon | B&N | iBooks | Kobo | Amazon CA | Amazon UK



Brenda Drake grew up the youngest of three children, an Air Force brat, and the continual new kid at school. Her fondest memories growing up is of her eccentric, Irish grandmother’s animated tales, which gave her a strong love for storytelling. So it was only fitting that she would choose to write stories with a bend toward the fantastical. When she’s not writing or hanging out with her family, she haunts libraries, bookstores, and coffee shops, or reads someplace quiet and not at all exotic (much to her disappointment).




Sunday, October 23, 2016

Dewey's 24 Hour R-a-T: Wrap-Up



And another Dewey's coming to a close! It was a pretty good one, not my best, but still enjoyable and once again, I made it the full 24 hours. Of course now I'm probably getting a 5th wind and won't be able to take a nap, but I'll try anyways. :D


Which hour was most daunting for you?
3-4am.  My eyes were hurting, so I listened to a crappy audiobook while I rested my eyes.  It was almost enough to put me to sleep, but I don't sleep well anyways, so there wasn't much chance of that.  I got a 2nd (or 3rd) wind around 5am.

Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
I actually read a really cute Fairy Tale retelling series by Caroline Lee.  It was Westerns set in the 1700s.  It was straight retellings but really cute.  I really loved the Beauty and the Beast one.  

Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next season?
Yeah, but nothing seems to change.  I do like how the cheerleader stuff changed, but still didn't see anyone this way.  I only got to about 30 blogs, but hope to visit some more after a nap to see how people did.
 

What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
My own personal reading.

How many books did you read?
Completed 12, and about 25% of a 13th book

What were the names of the books you read?
See Below

Which book did you enjoy most?
The Martian, which is a re-read for the 4th or 5th time.  It's for a challenge so I tacked it onto the end of the night rather than later in the day like I first was going to do.  New to me book, my favorite would have been Beauty by Caroline Lee.

Which did you enjoy least?
Seal's Desire by Elle James

How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
Will be a Reader again next year, if I'm back into books by then.  With a 400+ year, and a 225+ during the last 4 months, I may still be on a well deserved break from books when Dewey's comes around next.  :D


Updates!!


Total number of books I've read: 12
Total Pages Read: 1,931 pages
Total Time Read: 20 hours

COMPLETED





Started, not Completed






Dewey's 24 Hour R-a-T: Mid-Event Survey



Still here and doing well. How is everyone else doing? Checking in now, since my 12-16th hours were more hectic with Hubby around and watching some of the Cubs game. Nats/Rays fan here but glad for Maddon (former manager of the Rays) and I like some of the players.

So, here's where I was at 8pm my time (mid point) and where I am now (12:30am my time).



Mid-Event Survey

1. What are you reading right now?
At Hour 8, the mid way point, I was just getting started on "The Stepmother" by Caroline Lee.  It's a part of the Everland series, a western spin on classic Fairy Tales.  It ended up being my least favorite book.  Now, at 12:30am (Hour 17) I will be starting "Seal's Honor" by Elle James on audio to give my aching eyes a rest.

2. How many books have you read so far?
At the 12th hour I was starting on my 8th book of the day.  Now at Hour 17 I will be starting on my 10th.

3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon?
Same answer as before, none really, as I got them to read specifically for Wobble, a reading challenge I've been a part of for the last 5 months.  But after Dewey's is over, I plan on starting "The Martian" for a quest for the challenge and I'm VERY excited to re-read it as it is one of my favorites!

4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those?
Just my Husband.  We can't go very long without talking to each other, so He was talking to me a while before letting me read.  But then we had to watch the end of the Cubs game as well.  So during the day I read without interruptions (except to feed the dog), then it was staggered reading in between about 8pm and 11pm (my hours 12-16).  Now Hubby is in bed for the night, I've updated my latest books, I'm posting this and getting in a solid 7+ hours uninterrupted.

5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far?
Nada.  Same old thing.  Same boring (sorry, but they are) questions, same boring challenges.  I'm amusing myself over here with my books and that's really all that matters to me.  I have visited about 25 or so blogs and I plan on visiting more after my eyes have rested.





Saturday, October 22, 2016

Dewey's 24 Hour R-a-T : Opening Meme



It's almost time to get started. Wooohooo!!
If you post on a blog, feel free to leave me a link and I'll come visit you today.  I don't do Twitter, but I love regular (not Tumblr) blogs and love to visit others still posting on blogs.


Opening Meme:

1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
A little town in Northwest North Carolina called Sparta.  Sleepy little town with absolutely nothing to do here.  Good thing I have my books.  :)

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
None in particular right now.  I'm nearing the end (finally) of a 5 month team challenge at GoodReads and all my books are shorter books and series books to help out my team.  Nothing is anything I really am over eager about reading, they were picked because they were shorter and I should be able to get through more quicker.  Maybe along the way I'll pick something I've actually been looking forward to reading. 

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
As always ~ EVERYTHING!!  I'm one of the junky eaters.  Hostess Donuts start the morning and there's Chili or Lasagna for lunch.  Dinner will probably be store bought Pizza.  For snacks, I have Reese's Spread with Graham Crackers, Sugar Cookies, Peppermint Cookies, Soft Pretzels and Peach Rings.  Plenty of Dew and some Kickstarts as well.  YAY!!

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
HI! I'm Karsyn, in my late 30s, deeply in love with and married to my high school best friend. I LOVE to read, obviously, and am blessed with a ton of time to read. In a typical month I will read 15-20 books, often more, and when there's something going on, like Dewey's (or this damn challenge) , I read a ton more! Beyond my books, I'm a gamer, and I built my own Gaming PC last year which I named Widget (after The Night Circus character). Widget is GREAT and we've had so much fun playing games on him!! I've been participating in a very very long Reading Challenge at a group at GoodReads but I'm beyond ready for it to be over.  I've read 253 books since June 15th, so I'm a little burnt out.  2 weeks and 2 days to go and it will finally be OVER!!  But on the bright side, I've read more books this year than any since I started keeping track at GR.  Over 415 for the year now, so lets see how many more we can tack on today/tonight!!  :)

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
This is my 6th (I think) Dewey's and will be all about the books for my team challenge.  Just gonna read books in between 100-200 pages, so I hope to get through a bunch today.  Not going to list a potential list this time, just because I'm running out of time before Dewey's starts.  I have about 25 books I have my eyes on, plus just any that tickle my fancy, so we'll see where it leads.

 



Friday, October 21, 2016

Dewey's!



Reports of my assimilation have been greatly exaggerated.
(And if you get the reference, can we be friends?)


Dewey's is here, and I am participating! Unlike past Dewey's I will probably only check in at the start and the end. I MAY check in at the mid point. I haven't been around my blog because I've been drowning in a Reading Challenge at GoodReads which is still not over (2 1/2 more weeks, UGH!!) so I'm gonna be reading all the books I can for that. Perhaps I can beat my past high of books read during Dewey's. We'll see.

I like how they have changed the Cheerleading for this time. I hope it works out. I know I signed up for getting cheered on last time (first and only time ever) and only had 1 person stop by! I plan on visiting a bunch of blogs when I'm listening to audiobooks. As always, I will not be using Twitter or anything else other than this blog. I'm too long winded for Twitter, so I dislike it. But you can find me here, and I will be visiting anyone with regular blogs!



Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Book Review: Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North


The Book:



The Blurb:

All the world forgets me. First my face, then my voice, then the consequences of my deeds.
So listen. Remember me.

My name is Hope Arden, and you won't know who I am. We've met before - a thousand times. But I am the girl the world forgets.

It started when I was sixteen years old. A slow declining, an isolation, one piece at a time.

A father forgetting to drive me to school. A mother setting the table for three, not four. A teacher who forgets to chase my missing homework. A friend who looks straight through me and sees a stranger.

No matter what I do, the words I say, the people I hurt, the crimes I commit - you will never remember who I am.

That makes my life tricky. But it also makes me dangerous . . .

The Review:

Received from NetGalley for my honest review
Completed June 26, 2016
472 pages - Kindle Edition

This book is a hard one to rate. I liked it, and I LOVED about the first half of it, but then it just kept getting duller and duller and went on and on and got tedious. I like to rant/talk a lot, but some of the dialogue was 1 person talking for a full page about scientific stuff that made my eyes hurt. It just lost me somewhere around 60% and I just really wanted it to be over with, which is a shame because it started out so well.

The good: the concept, the 1st half of the book, Hope, what she was able to do and how she did it. She was lovable, for a thief.

The not-so-good: The writing style at times, unique but not something I liked. The "definitions" that made me feel like I was reading a dictionary have of the time.

The bad: the scientific stuff that went on and on and on. The 1 page dialogue from one person just rambling. The length. If this book was closer to 300 pages instead of 500 pages, all the dull stuff could have been taken out and all the fun good stuff left in and it would have been a great book.

Setting = B
Plot = A (execution of plot sliding scale from A to C)
Conflict = B
Characters = C
Theme = A+

The Rating:



Enjoyable, equally good and ok. (3 stars)



Monday, August 1, 2016

Book Review: Omnia by Laura Garcia



Reports of my assimilation have been greatly exaggerated! :)



 photo divider_zpse3448eb0.png


The Book:



The Blurb:

All you have to do is imagine—the Omnia superstore has anything you could ever dream of.

Where else but Omnia would a boy go looking to replace a one-of-a-kind stuffed bunny that happens to be his baby sister’s favorite toy? Scrolling through the online retailer’s extensive inventory, Nico finds what looks like a perfect match, but the item is lost somewhere in the vast Omnia warehouse. He doesn’t believe it, so he stows away in a shipment being returned to the warehouse to search for the bunny himself.

Nico quickly gets stranded on the island of Omnia, a fantastical place that does much more than sell everyday items. It is a hub for a business with intergalactic reach, and while stray visitors to Omnia are welcomed warmly, they are not permitted to leave, ever.

The adventure of a lifetime awaits Nico as he searches for the beloved toy and tries to find a way to return home.

The Review:

Received from NetGalley for my honest review
Completed July 27, 2016
288 page ebook

Omnia is a Middle Grade book about a boy who goes on the search for a stuffed bunny at Omnia, a "store" that has anything you could ever want or need.

While I thought that the story dragged at parts, overall I thought it was very very cute. It definitely is on the more younger side of middle grade and not all adults who enjoy MG books may like it, and probably many teens won't, but anyone who is looking for just a cute story overall will enjoy Omnia.

Nico finds his way to Omnia, a place that the world knows little to nothing about and finds a magical place filled with all many of things and creatures. He tries to fit in as he gets stuck in Omnia but is always looking for the rabbit and for his way home.

The story was unique and very cute. It was different and I wasn't expecting things that happened. It was slow at times but overall was quite good. If I have one complaint about it, it is that the ending was rather abrupt. I mean, it was leading up to it, but it was like all the sudden and then there was little follow up, it was just over. I would have liked to have seen the ending filled out with more detail and more after all that happened then just the letter. The letter was good, but I just would have liked more.

Very cute!


Setting = A+
Plot = B+
Conflict = A
Characters = B+
Theme = A+


The Rating:



Loved it, really really enjoyable book! (4 stars)



Monday, May 16, 2016

Book Review: Don't Get Caught by Kurt Dinan


The Book:



The Blurb:

10:00 tonight at the water tower. Tell no one. -Chaos Club

When Max receives a mysterious invite from the untraceable, epic prank-pulling Chaos Club, he has to ask: why him? After all, he's Mr. 2.5 GPA, Mr. No Social Life. He's Just Max. And his favorite heist movies have taught him this situation calls for Rule #4: Be suspicious. But it's also his one shot to leave Just Max in the dust...

Yeah, not so much. Max and four fellow students-who also received invites-are standing on the newly defaced water tower when campus security "catches" them. Definitely a setup. And this time, Max has had enough. It's time for Rule #7: Always get payback.

Let the prank war begin.

The Review:

Received from NetGalley for my honest review
Completed April 24, 2016
336 page Kindle ebook

I love any kind of book with games or pranks or competition, so I thought this one would be right up my alley. It was GOOD, but not great. I wasn't overwhelmed by it, it was just GOOD.

Max is ordinary when he receives the invitation and decides to do something daring, for a change. He typically doesn't do anything that would be considered wrong or dangerous but he's tired of playing things safe. Through the book he goes back and forth between doing what is right and doing what is wrong. Most of the time he chooses right, to the annoyance of the others in his group, but occasionally he'll do something he knows he shouldn't.

The pranks are kind of silly for the most part, and not in a good way, but there was one I laughed out loud about (the photo on the field) and that was worth 3 stars on it's own. Comical!

But other than that, I pretty much was kind of bored by the book. It wasn't awful it just didn't knock my socks off like I hoped it would. There were some twists to the book that I saw all but one of them coming and it didn't surprise me either. So it was pretty predictable.

It wasn't a bad book. It was good, just not great. It had a lot of potential but just fell short of the greatness that it could have been. I'd say it's a good read for teens/kids, but maybe not for adults who enjoy YA just because it's a little underwhelming. I was a good freebie, so that's a plus.


Setting = B
Plot = B
Conflict = B
Characters = B
Theme = A


The Rating:



Enjoyable, equally good and ok. (3 stars)

Sunday, May 15, 2016

Book Review: Risk of Exposure by Emmy Curtis

Rêveur Review

The Book:



The Blurb:

He is a trained professional-but nothing can prepare him for the hottest mission of his life. Assigned to protect his boss's daughter, British former SAS operative Malone Garrett breaks the first rule of covert surveillance-don't make contact. And especially don't take your mark out to dinner, then agree to a rooftop quickie. But now that Mal has Abby in his arms, he has no intention of ever letting her go.

Abby Baston told herself it was a hit and quit, a one-nighter with a hot, handsome stranger whose hands were trained to take action. Working undercover for the CIA, she can't risk anything more. But when an international crisis ignites, Abby must make a call: trust Mal with her secret-and her heart-and partner up, or lose everything in a split second . . .

The Review:

Completed May 08, 2016
162 page ebook

Received from NetGalley for my honest review.

The most recent book in the enjoyable "Alpha Ops" series. It was finally Mal's turn to get his story and while it wasn't my favorite one, it was enjoyable. I do like Mal as a character and I liked Abby as well, I just don't like (as always) when people lie and that's what he did a while to her and what she does in her life. But, that's how it had to be for this story, and it was good, just not great for me.

The actual story about what Abby was doing was pretty boring. I didn't really care for that part. It was dull and slow moving until near the end. But I liked the relationship part of it, how they met and even before they met while Mal was trailing her.

The end was my favorite part. I loved how they came back together, it was so cute and I liked the epilogue that gave us a look into their lives a bit later. Definitely a cute couple and a good story.

I recommend this series for fans of romantic suspense. The guys are all touch and set in their ways until the women come along and bring them to their knees. It's always fun to read these stories where the guys fall when they weren't expecting to. Great enjoyable series.

Setting = B
Plot = B+
Conflict = B
Characters = A
Theme = A

The Rating:



Really Liked it, a really good book! (3.5 stars)

Thursday, May 12, 2016

Book Review: The Syndicate by Sophie Davis


The Book:



The Blurb:

In a future where time travel has been outlawed, a black market exists for anyone with the money, connections, and nerve to request items from days past. As a Runner for one of the underground syndicates that now controls the timewaves, Stassi 2446-89 has seen it all: the fall of Rome, the rise of Hitler, the end of democracy, the establishment of time tourism, and the devastating consequences of it. Her job is to seamlessly slip through the past, in search of items of value to the syndicate's clientele.

Stassi's next assignment takes her to Paris in the 1920’s, in search of a lost manuscript by one of the twentieth century’s greatest writers. She and her partner, Gaige, are swept up in the City of Light during the height of fashion and culture—as alluring a locale as they’ve ever visited. But a seedier side of life lurks beneath the glamorous façade, and the pair quickly learns this run is more dangerous than any of their previous missions.

Because history isn’t playing out as it should be—a first for the syndicate. When the stakes are raised and it becomes a matter of life or death, Stassi and Gaige must ultimately decide how far they’re willing to go to ensure the future as they know it.

The Review:

Received from NetGalley for my Honest Review
Completed May 12, 2016
586 page Kindle ebook

The Syndicate is about a time traveling company in the future. It’s actually a black market type thing. In their time, time travel is banned, and only those in a syndicate can do it. They are tasked with going into the past and retrieving items for wealthy clients. In this book they are tasked with getting an unpublished manuscript that’s only mentioned once. They have a limited time in which they need to go back and get into the circle of friends of the author so they can figure out where the manuscript is.

The start of their mission starts out well enough but soon they find out about a serial killer who they had not been told about. As they are briefed before the mission on anything and everything about the time and area, they feel something is wrong with this and are pretty uncertain about things, as they continue to work their way into the circle. Soon they are on the mission for the manuscript but also trying to figure out why there is a serial killer never heard of before and what it has to do with them.

The book took some time to get going for me. It starts out with meeting Stassi and Gaige on another mission and then some down time at their base of operations before learning about this mission and learning about it and then leaving. The book is a little long and they don’t actually get to the time they are going to (Paris in the 1920s) until 17% into the book. Even when they were first into Paris and their mission it was still a little slow going for me, but once it really got going and things started happening around them then I really started to enjoy it.

It was definitely a different take on the time travel story and quite enjoyable. While they were only going to scan the manuscript, it’s still that they are meeting people, befriending them to search their possessions and try to find the lost manuscript. They are lying to everyone around them, something Stassi has an issue with though she states she hasn’t before. They made it sound like this mission was different though, a lot longer than what they normally do. Normally they get in and out, and this time they are staying a while and making friends and she has a problem with it. So it’s a really weird dynamic.

I really liked Stassi though it took me a while to get on her side. I got behind her after that though, and liked her spunkiness and can do attitude. She let very little affect her, and I really liked that about her.

Once the story got going, I liked it all. It was a good mystery and I couldn’t figure it out, though when the killer was revealed there was a reason for that. I definitely wasn’t expecting the end and that’ll be different to see with the next book.

I definitely would recommend it to fans of time travel. It was unique and though slow at some times, the overall story was quite enjoyable. I like most of the characters, though the main alchemist that helped them out I really didn’t like at all, but she was pretty much the only one. A fun and enjoyable book!

Setting = A
Plot = A+
Conflict = A
Characters = A - B
Theme = A+

The Rating:



LOVED it, a fantastic book! (4.5 stars)


Sunday, May 1, 2016

April Reading Log & Wrap-up Post



Howdy all! April was a good reading month, between just wanting to read for the RPG game I'm doing, plus Dewey's. Got a lot read and some good books as well. Also got some posts up here at the blog which I'm trying to do more again. I'm working my way through my NetGalley books, of which I have a ton, so that helps with posting.

If you are on GoodReads, I hope you'll come join us at Nothing But Reading Challenges. We're about to announce our new team challenge and it's going to be a CRAZY one. Come join in the fun! Prepare to WOBBLE!!! :)


April Reading Log 2016
From ~ ImzadiRose
1   1.5   2   2.5  <---Bad  3 Great--->  3.5  4  4.5  5
Good

On my 1st Quarter Log, I was questioned if I only read comics (though if she actually read my log, I don't know how any description read as possible comic) since I read so much.  No, not lately anyways.  I just read that much.  I read what I want, when I want, and often it is many books.  So, I figured I’d start adding in page numbers of the books I read.  Changing up the formatting a bit, see how it works for this log.  


01 – Built to Last by Aurora Rey
Completed 4/1/16  |  ★★★★  |  264 pages
        This is a cute lesbian romance book.  I had been searching for some, as it’s not easy to find good ones.  I liked this one, but it could have been better.  The story was that Olivia bought an old home to live in/restore and Joss’s company is contracted to do the restoration.  At first, I didn’t like Joss very much, she seemed stuck up and condescending, but as the story went on, Joss grew on me and I didn’t like Olivia much at all by near the end. 

02 – Nexis (Tricksters 01) by A.L. Davroe
Completed 4/2/16  |  ★★  |  412 pages
        I had been looking forward to this book for a WHILE before it came out and I was soooo disappointed with it.  I didn’t like the main character at all, so because of that it took me a long while to get into the book.  It’s about her in a virtual reality world after losing her father, who created the VR.  It just didn’t grab my attention at all.  I didn’t like the characters, the story was slow moving.  Meh.

03 – I am Alive (Episode 1, 2 & 3) by Cameron Jace
Completed 4/3 & 4/4   | ★★★.5   |  290 pages
        This was actually 3 separate books/episodes, but since it was just one long story, I put them all together.  I actually rated the first two a 4 star and the 3rd one a 3 star.  In the story, teens are ranked when they turn 17 and if they land under a certain number they are considered a “monster” and are sent to an area to fight to the death between each other and creatures there.  The worse thing about these were how short they are and I don’t have the rest of the series, yet, so I can’t find out what happens next.  They were enjoyable though. 

04 – What Could Possibly Go Wrong (St Mary’s 06) by Jodi Taylor
Completed 4/3   |  ★★★★★   |  476 pages
        I spent a lot of March reading the first 5 books of the Chronicles of St Mary’s and loving each of them.  It’s a time traveling series and is FANTASTIC!!  I loved all the books a ton and I can’t wait for the next one (this is the last for now) to come out in May, though I do have the short stories still to read.  In this one, Max is training and getting into her usual insane situations.  The whole series is great, and I recommend it to any time travel fans.

05 – James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
Completed 4/5   |  ★★★  |   151 pages
        I have actually never seen the movie or read the book before now.  I read this because for a challenge I needed to read a book with 100 mentions of bugs in it, so this fit the bill.  It was cute for what it was.  James is stuck with mean aunts when he receives some magic in a bag, which he drops and it creates the giant peach.  He goes inside and finds all kinds of insects his size.  It was cute and a quick read. 

06 – Jet (Jet 01) by Russell Blake
Completed 4/6   | ★★★  |   229 pages
        Jet is a Mossad Operative who fakes her own death because she wants to leave the Mossad and lead a different life.  She’s found and people try to kill her so she has to find her old team to find out what is going on just to find most of them dead.  The story was ok, the characters were ok as well.  The book had some of my triggers in it though so I won’t be continuing with the series.

07 – Burned (Alex Verus 07) by Benedict Jacka
Completed 4/9   |  ★★★★★  |   416 pages
        Alex Verus is back and is being targeted for death.  Not just him but his friends as well and he doesn’t have long to figure out who wants him dead and how to keep them all alive.  A great book and the end was so great, made me want the next one already.  This series is good for Dresdan fans, which I’ve actually not read, I didn’t enjoy the first book when I tried it, but I love Alex Verus.  He’s a mage in London that owns a shop.

08 – Circus Games (Circus 02) by Lilliana Rose
Completed 4/9   |    |  67 pages
        This was a typical crap lesbian erotica story about a circus that travels around going to different planets.  The writing was awful, the characters were awful.  It was just BAD!

09 – What we Find (Sullivan’s Crossing 01) by Robyn Carr
Completed 4/10   |  ★★★  |   384 pages
        I read everything Robyn Carr writes, or at least I try to, so new series of course I was going to try it.  It wasn’t my least favorite of hers, but definitely wasn’t Virgin River/Thunder Point.  The MC Maggie had a bunch of crap happen so goes home to recharge for a while and ends up staying, figuring out life and of course falling in love.  Mainly this book had some of my triggers in it, so I didn’t like that too much and I didn’t care for Maggie, though Cal was great. 

10 – Targeted (Callahan & McLane 04) by Kendra Elliot
Completed 4/13   |  ★★★★  |  352 pages
        Back to Mason and Ava in this series and in this one, law enforcement is being targeted starting with Mason’s boss and no one can figure out why.  The story was good and the characters are good in this series.  I don’t like Ava’s sister and I hoped we’d seen the last of her.  She is mentioned some, but not like the last book which was good much, so I enjoyed this one more.  Good mystery and story.

11 – Ensnared (Splintered 03) by A.G. Howard
Completed 4/13   |  ★★★  |   420 pages
        I read the first 2 books a while ago and the 2nd one bored me after liking the first one, so I actually wasn’t going to finish it out.  But I needed a book with a butterfly on it for a challenge, so I decided to go ahead and read it and I enjoyed it more than I remember enjoying the second one, though I was disappointed with the end.  A good retelling overall.

12 – Tag, You’re Dead by J.C. Lane
Completed 4/14   |  ★★★★★  |   unknown (over 200)
        I received this book (like a lot others, I don’t always say) from NetGalley to review and I LOVED it.  It was about a game of Tag being played in all of Chicago and it was also a deadly game of tag, if the runner got tagged, they were dead.  It was a little simplistic, but it made a very easy book to read, tons of action and character you loved or hated.  Just a great fun book!

13 – Arena by Holly Jennings
Completed 4/17   |     ★★★   ★★★★  |   336 pages
        This was another book I was looking forward to, it was a book about a competition in virtual reality, both things I love.  Now, you may have noticed my weird rating.  For the sake of GoodReads I rated a 3, but it wasn’t what I wanted to rate it.  If I could have rated the book I would have rated the VR stuff a 4.5, the drug usage a 1, the extreme change of the MC a 2, the lesson in Daoism a 2….. there was just so much to it.  I really liked the main story of the VR comp, but I actually liked very little else. 

14 – The Inventor’s Secret by Andrea Creamer
Completed 4/19   |  ★★  |   336 pages
        I didn’t really get the point of this one.  I mean I did, I just found it boring is the best way I could put it.  I couldn’t get behind the characters or the story.  I liked the first part of the book but when they went to the city it was all different and I didn’t like it very much at all.  The end was great, too bad it had lost my interest by then so I won’t be continuing with the series. 

15 – January (Calendar Girl 01) by Audrey Carlan
Completed 4/20   |  ★★★★   |  105 pages
        I read this book for the Book of the Month in my group at GoodReads and it was enjoyable… too bad it didn’t stay that way for long.  The story follows Mia whose ex is a loanshark and had her father beat up for owing money.  Mia takes on the debt and needs money fast, so she joins her aunts escort service.  She agrees to be a high priced escort staying with a new guy each month for a year to pay off the loan.  It’s an erotica, so not much details about each, just where she was, who she was with and what I though.  The first one was good.  It was a cute story with good characters.  I liked Mia and her first guy, Wes, who is a screenwriter.  It was a quick and fun book.

16 – February (Calendar Girl 02) by Audrey Carlan
Completed 4/20   |  ★★★   |  101 pages
        Mia moves on to Seattle and her Frenchman who wants to use her as a muse.  While I didn’t like the Frenchman (that’s what she called him so I can’t even remember…. Now I do, his name was Anton) I did like the art he created with her, a series about forbidden love.  I could see the pieces and they sounded beautiful. 

17 – March (Calendar Girl 03) by Audrey Carlan
Completed 4/20   |  ★★★★   |   106 pages
        Through the first 8 books (as far as I’ve read as of writing this) this one was my favorite.  Mia heads to Chicago to pose as the fiancée of a big wig in restaurants.  She arrives to find the reason she’s needed is because he’s gay and trying to hide his relationship.  The whole book and characters were so cute.  I loved the book. 

18 – April (Calendar Girl 04) by Audrey Carlan
Completed 4/20   |  ★★★   |   122 pages
        While the story line of Mia going to a baseball stadium to pose as the girlfriend would be something right up my alley, she went to Boston (boooo!) and the player was an ass.  So, it wasn’t my favorite one, but the overall story of how she helped things to end the way they did was cute.

19 – May (Calendar Girl 05) by Audrey Carlan
Completed 4/20   |  ★★.5   |   112 pages
        Mia is down in Hawaii and for a photoshop for “plus” size women.  She’s a size 8, I don’t see how that’s freakin plus size.  SIGH.  There were some bigger, and she was the smallest one, but still, the world sucks that size 8 is “big”.  Anyways, this one bored me and felt more like a history of Hawaii than a fun book like all the others.

20 – June (Calendar Girl 06) by Audrey Carlan
Completed 4/20   |  ★★★   |   115 pages
        In this one Mia is in DC and things got real for the first time.  She’s been lucky that she’s be around good people, and the man who hired her was good as well, but his son wasn’t and Mia was attacked and almost raped.  Her friends saved her and the book was a difficult one, but good overall. 

21 – July (Calendar Girl 07) by Audrey Carlan
Completed 4/21  |    |  111 pages
        In this one, Mia is down in Miami to be a part of a hip hop video.  She’s having flashbacks from the attack and can’t even stand for the man she’s down there with to touch her in any way.  All of that is good, but then her boyfriend shows up and all of the sudden she is fine and can have wild sex with him.  Nope Nope Nope.  That’s not how it works.  Doesn’t matter that they are in love, it just doesn’t work that way. 

22 – August (Calendar Girl 08) by Audrey Carlan
Completed 4/21  |    |  112 pages
        This one was lame, and the reason I haven’t read any more, though a friend is reading through them now so when she gets to this point I’ll read the rest with her.  In this one, a man is looking for his long lost half sister, whose name is Mia…. Has the same birthday as Mia….. yeah, you already know it IS Mia, but she didn’t.  Even when she met him and he seemed familiar, she didn’t know, and even when she remembered him in a dream she didn’t know….. it was AWFUL!!

23 – Known (Bone Secrets 05) by Kendra Elliot
Completed 4/21  |  ★★★★  |  348 pages
        In this one we revisit Chris who we met in an earlier book.  He’s having a weekend of quiet in his cabin when he smells smoke and goes to investigate and finds a woman and her daughter barely escape the fire. Then there is another attempt on the woman and they all are trying to stay alive and find out who wants her dead. It was another good and enjoyable book in the series. 

Time for Dewey’s (a 24 Hour Read-a-Thon).  I like to read a variety for Dewey’s and shorter stuff to switch it up.  The following books were all read within 24 hours.

24 – The Obsession by Nora Roberts
Completed 4/23  |  ★★★★.5  |  464 pages
        Another wonderful Nora book.  In this one Naomi’s childhood is stripped away from her when she finds a women being hidden by her father.  In the investigation that follows it comes out that he’s a serial killer and she’s saved the woman from death.  The book follows her life as she tries to move on from her past, but has bodies turning up near her.  The killer was not a surprise, but the book was really enjoyable.

25 – Jacob (Kings of Guardian 01) by Kris Michaels
Completed 4/23  |  ★.5  | 130 pages
        A woman is rescued and makes plans to meet with her rescuer a year later.  They meet up and love falls in line, of course.  The positives of this book were the team, the first mission and the plans for the ranch, but there were more negatives which included the insta-love, the dialogue and all the rest of the story.  It was very rushed, jumbled at times.  A good idea but not done well. 

26 – The Very First Damned Thing (St Mary’s 00.5) by Jodi Taylor
Completed 4/23  |  ★★★★  |  74 pages
        I saved these short stories specifically for Dewey’s so I could read them when my eyes were getting tired (had on audiobook).  I LOVED this series, can’t say enough good things about it, so while I don’t particularly love short stories (I’d rather have a book) I was looking forward to these.  This one was my favorite and established how St Mary’s got going and the Director bringing in all the people we’ve come to know and love into St Mary’s. 

27 – When a Child is Born (St Mary’s 02.5) by Jodi Taylor
Completed 4/23  |  ★★★  |  32 pages
        My least favorite, but I knew it would be.  Max and gang were going to watch an event when they were waylaid by an injured man and Max ends up delivering a baby.

28 – Roman Holiday (St Mary’s 03.5) by Jodi Taylor
Completed 4/23  |   ★★★  |  36 pages
        An ok story about Max and gang going to see Julius Caesar and getting knee deep in all the stuff again!  J

29 – Christmas Present (St Mary’s 04.5) by Jodi Taylor
Completed 4/24  |   ★★★  |  41 pages
        I was wondering about something in book 5, and this made it clear, so YAY for clearing that up.  It was a good and cute story.

30 – Ships & Stings & Wedding Rings (St Mary’s 06.5) by Jodi Taylor
Completed 4/24  |  ★★★  |  51 pages
        I love the theme she has going of these short stories being at Christmas time.  I love how they pointed that out in this one.  So fun.  J  This made me chuckle, definitely a good one and they are in Ancient Egypt.

31 – Don’t Get Caught by Kurt Dinan
Completed 4/24  |  ★★★  |  336 pages
        Max receives a note from an exclusive club in his school, or so he thinks.   He and some others end up getting in trouble and they want revenge.  It’s a book of pranks at the school, who can one-up the other group.  It was good, but not great.  Enjoyable enough and an easy read.

32 – I Totally Funniest (I Funny 03) by James Patterson
Completed 4/24  |  ★★★  |  330 pages
        Patterson is great to read for read-a-thons.  So quick and easy.  I read the first two of this series on another read-a-thon, might have been the last Dewey’s, I can’t remember.  Jamie Grimm is a kid comedian who has won some contests and in this one is going for the biggest one, the final 4 to see who is the Nation’s funniest kid.  It was a cute book.

33 – I Funny TV (I Funny 04) by James Patterson
Completed 4/24  |  ★★  |  336 pages
        After Jamie’s win from the previous book (come on, it’s not really a spoiler), he gets his own tv show, but it doesn’t go the way he thought it would.  I didn’t really like this one much at all, a lot of crappy stuff happening in it and it just wasn’t as enjoyable.  Of course it all works out in the end and is a cute series overall.

^^^ End of Dewey’s.  24 Hours – 4 Novels, 1 Novella & 5 Short Stories ^^^

34 – Departure by A.G. Riddle
Completed 4/25  |  ★★★★  |  318 pages
        This one was different, and not really what I was expecting.  I was thinking a “Lost” type thing (tv show) but it was very different.  They figure out they are not in their own world, or time, pretty early on and that part of the book I found pretty boring, but once they started getting going, about 60% into it, it was quite enjoyable.

36 – Slow Burn (Nascar 07) by Pamela Britton
Completed 4/27  |  ★★★  |  378 pages
        I read the first 6 of these ages ago, and read this one because I needed to read the 7th book in a series.  It was enjoyable.  Dana wins a date with a race car driver, and she doesn’t want to take it because she’s newly out of an abusive relationship.  It was typical with the abuse and how she was, which I didn’t like, but the rest of it was good enough. 

37- The Dangerous Days of Daniel X (Daniel X 01) by James Patterson
Completed 4/27  |  ★★★  |  308 pages
        Another quick and easy book from Patterson.  Decided to try this one to see if I’d like it for a simple series I could work through.  It was OK, I don’t know if I will continue with it or not.  Daniel is an Alien Hunter, and he has a list he’s working through to hunt down the most dangerous aliens.  It was definitely different, but a quick and easy read.

38 – The Assignment (Assignment 01) by Evangeline Anderson
Completed 4/28  |  ★★★  |  155 pages
        A M/M romance that was OK.  Not the best pair I’ve read about but reading how they were acting around each other was cute.  It was sweet and simple.  I definitely get tired of the overuse of the term “babe” but that’s just me.  Cute enough, but the next books in the series are all short stories, so not going to continue with them. 

38 books / 8554 pages



What I posted in February


Books I Reviewed in April



Dewey's 24 Hour Read-a-Thon Posts