Wicked Burn by Beth Kery

Good news. It got better.

And our number of the day is F-I-V-E.

Cindy Blurb: Vic and Niall are neighbours (I see Niall and in my brain I pronounce is Nee-ail - painful) who for some reason start having banging sex. I mean wow.

So there's sex.

More sex.

Yep, more.

Oh, some talking! No wait. Those are instructions for where exactly Niall's legs should be.

Okay.

Oh no he didn't! Oh, yep, he did and Niall's fine with it.

Any plot? Finally.

Vic is a playwright and a huge gruff bear - grrrr. He was also dumped years ago by a woman who tore his insides out. Not literally cause he really wouldn't have survived. You get it.

Niall is I *think* a museum curator or something like that but her job isn't important because her personal life is a tragedy. No really. Tragic. It's what kept me turning the pages.

I KNOW! You'd think the sex would have kept me reading but not so much.

I don't want to spoil the story for anyone so that's all the plot you get - except there's sex, there's a blow-up, some good ol' hiding, then the chase, then the reckoning with lots of sex.

I'm calling this book romantica although there is nothing on the front, back or spine that says this. It says contemporary romance. Hold on. Berkley Sensation - maybe that's their sexy line.

I think this is probably milder than some of the romantica out there but still, I was a wee bit surprised. Yes, eyebrows were in the hair line at times.

I have mentioned before that it's the sexual tension that is important and yes, I'll be pissed if a door slams in my face just when things are getting good.

With that in mind, I find that sexual tension goes right out the window when two characters have sex in the first few chapters of the book. So that's one of my biases. But I'm glad I read most (and then skimmed to get to plot) of it to get to the meat of the story.

Things that didn't work for me:

1. You can use more than 12 words in a conversation. Try it. You might discover shit doesn't land on you.

2. A heroine who has had violence done to her is maybe not going to be open to certain things the first time the H/H have sex. After certain revelations in this story I felt that maybe a few things that happened in the bedroom were far from realistic.

3. The overly alpha male with submissive female. I need the female to fight back even if it's just a bit but I think that would run towards another personal bias.

I'm going with a C .

I've read romantica if Shannon McKenna fits the bill but I pretty much hated the one I read. Bad book! Bad!

I decided to try another author and see if romantica is something that works for me. I'm thinking not particularly but I'll probably try a few more authors before deciding if this genre is for me or not.

If you've never read romantica and you want to try it I would say this is as good a place to start as any.

Now, I wonder what I'll pick up next.

Seriously, I have no clue.

Summer Breeze by Catherine Anderson

I finally found a book that stuck.

Holly reminded me of Summer Breeze by Catherine Anderson a few days ago and I remembered that the heroine of the story was agoraphobic and since it's a historical I wanted to see how it would play out.

Cindy Blurb: Story is set in 1889 and would be considered a historical western. Joseph Paxton is a beginning rancher who is ready for hard work to make his way. He enjoys his life just the way it is, working, drinking on a Friday night and when the need arises, finding a girl at the saloon to scratch his itch. Sorry. Jo was pretty plain spoken so I don't think he would mind my words.

Joseph's life takes a turn when a neighbour's foreman rides onto his property shot in the back. The foreman, Darby (old guy), is worried about his boss/charge, Rachel Hollister and needs Joseph to pledge to take care of her. Joseph, more worried about Darby's wound promises even though he has heard rumours that Rachel has bats in her belfry.

Rachel Hollister survived the slaughter of her family one summer day five years before. Fear quickly overcame Rachel to the point where Darby's only choice was to hole her up in her house in her kitchen/family room. She lives in total isolation with the windows boarded up and unable to open any doors. Darby keeps her in supplies and she cooks for him and they exchange stuff through a wood safe. So it's a shock to her system when she hears Joseph Paxton pounding on her door.

Someone blows a hole in the wall with a shotgun, Rachel slowly starts to trust Joseph while Joseph finds ways to bring actual sunshine into Rachel's life. Jo's family members start showing up and Rachel again gets used to things (a little fast but whatever) the towns people suddenly want to help and build her a walled garden with a cast iron grill ceiling so she can get outside. And then there is the 'culprit' and reconciliation of those who were wronged.

HEA.

If you are new here then you should know that I have experienced agoraphobia and have had panic attacks most of my life. I knew where Rachel was coming from except for the fact that Rachel had experienced an extreme trauma and thus, she had a 'built in' excuse for what was happening to her. I don't know enough about post traumatic stress but I wondered if maybe this should have been the real diagnosis for this character. I think by having the past trauma, Anderson was able to have a hero who could accept the heroine for how she was. I wonder if it had been done without a traumatic event, how a hero or heroine for that matter would feel about a shut in.

So a few things, Rachel uses the term agoraphobia in her mental musings which seemed out of place for me as I didn't learn about agoraphobia until I was in my late twenties. Also, I looked up the etymology of the word :

"fear of open spaces," 1873, from Ger. Agorophobie, coined by psychiatrist Carl Westphal, 1871, from Gk. agora "open space" (typically a marketplace), from ageirein "to assemble," + -phobia "fear."

I'm not sure how fast word traveled back in the 1880's but I'm not sure just anyone would know the word.

Many of the scenes where panic attacks were depicted were well done except that Rachel actually did pass out (which I'm not sure actually happens in a panic attack - you only think you're about to pass out) and then she would have 'episodes' where she would be in a catatonic state and come to without remembering what had sent her into one.

Then there was the end.

Uh, no. Mental illness does not just get up and leave. Sorry. No. I figured it was coming but I was hoping Anderson would show a more natural progress to leaving agoraphobia behind.

Also, one of my pet peeves showed up in this book by having the story begin in 2005 (which had me worrying it was going to be a time travel) with the reading of a journal and then ending in 2005 with the letter from Joseph.

WHO IS DEAD! Cause, he was alive in 1889. I'm just saying. I hate that. The good news is that when I started reading the prologue I jumped to the end to see if I was going to have to be there when they died. I read that and then read the story in between and pretended that that was where the story ended. Hey, I know they are dead but in my brain they live in 1889 and are quite happy. I need to leave them there!

Dang, there was something else but it floated off. Meh.

Oh yeah.

Then there is the author's style which is really more about me than anyone. I prefer stories where character interaction and dialogue are prominent. Most of what moves this story along happens with internal dialogue. So I was reading pages and pages of what the hero or heroine were thinking instead of being there when they might have a conversation.

So, you're thinking I didn't like this book.

It wasn't bad and it kept me reading which is always a plus. I liked both Rachel and Joseph but I think having the family tree in the opening automatically has me figuring out ages of death and such. (There is a brother that only lives until the age of 66 and his story is yet to come! I like having people live to a ripe old age - oh, which has me with the secondary characters who wasted most of their lives without telling each other they loved each other - meh).

Basically you have a guy and girl who fall in love which was what I was in the mood for. I'm going with a straight C.

Anna Campbell's book showed up in the mail yesterday so I think that's the next book up. Okay, you know me, anything could happen.

A Thief In A Kilt by Sandy Blair

Yes. I'm avoiding my list - turns out there were more things that should have been on there so I did those today.

Hey!

Napping did not end up on the list!

Obviously, I could use one.

Anyways, we are here to discuss A Thief in a Kilt by Sandy Blair which I'm grading a C.

I have read her two previous books, A Man in a Kilt and A Rogue in a Kilt. I have AMIAK as a B+ and wrote in my tiny journal "Fantastic! Like Garwood. Just needs to be fleshed out more. TT romance". ARIAK was given Keeper status and I remember being very taken by Blair's humour.

Well, let's just say that A Thief in a Kilt was a disappointment.

Cindy Blurb: Kate Templeton is a seer and has been a friend of the rightful Scottish King James while he has been incarcerated in the Tower of London. On one occasion she had a vision of James returning to Scotland and razing the land and the people because he believes they have forsaken him. Upset by this vision, Kate decides to go to Scotland and determine who is a 'friend' of James.

I'm thinking Carrot Top would have made a better spy but whatever.

Ian Mackay is the second hand of the man who has been 'holding' the throne for James. Turns out the man is a traitor but Ian doesn't find this out until way later. Anyways, women fall for him left, right and center so when this Kate doesn't faint at the sight of him he is bewitched.

Ian discovers Kate is a spy (but he doesn't know why and she's not telling) so begins some horse chase scenes that made me smile. Then they go to London, Ian gets caught in the Tower of London and Kate somehow rescues him and they head back to Scotland.

There's a part of me that wants to go back to the earlier two books and see if I missed what bothered me so much in this book. Course, I would have to find them and that ain't happening for a while.

I commented on many of the problems here. The good news is the awking, hmmphing and arrghs did tone down after the half way point. Either that or I had become immune. The middle part of the story was probably the best except for them not trusting each other.

Oh, there is a sex scene that I'm pretty sure defies physics but if any of you have actually made love in a hammock and not ended up on your head, please share. I should mention the hammock is on a ship heaving on the sea. I have that obsessive brain that won't let me forget that they are on a friggin' hammock having wild sex! I couldn't just enjoy the moment, I was waiting for the thing to flip over. I'm just saying. Way too distracting.

As to the events at the end. Not believing it was anywhere near possible but hey, maybe attempts at breaching the Tower of London on a moments notice have happened.

Oh and then there were visuals that didn't come off the way the author was intending them. I mean, I think this next line is to show the way a man thinks but I just experienced more of an 'eww' feeling. "Since he'd been old enough to sprout hair on his balls, women had been seeking him out to share their woes." pg 115

Hair on his balls. Yeah, my obsessive brain wouldn't let that image go. Then there was the skeevy image of him as a teen - not sexy.

So why a C?

There were places that made me smile and near the end I managed to tear up over how they believed they would never see each other again. I just think the story had potential but didn't hit it's mark. It wasn't a 'meh' read but there were too many problems that the story couldn't overcome.

Whether I buy Blair's next book is yet to be seen. I think the book could have been much better with some strict editing of over used words and phrases.

So there's my take.

As to what I am going to read now, it's going to be Cold As Ice by Anne Stuart. It's evident that I need to break myself out of my reading slump. Even still, just knowing all the tasks I have to accomplish in the coming month has made it almost impossible for me to sit still.

Wednesday I'm going to go shopping with my gorgeous cousin (I call her my baby girl even though she is now 20 years old) so I need to whip myself into shape or my house is going to look like it does right now, 25 days from now.

That would kill me.

MJD's Drop Dead, Gorgeous

I finally found time to read a book although it probably doesn't count because it is a 200 page story by MaryJanice Davidson.

Also, I don't think anyone else who visits here reads her but, just in case, I'll dish.

The good news - The book has a plot *and the crowd goes wild*. Seriously this is a bonus because I remember trying to recap her last Betsy book and I didn't have a clue.

The bad news - There is an author's note that gets you kinda up to speed on the book before it although there is a claim that this book is a stand-alone. Yep. It's a stand alone if you enjoy being dumped in the middle of nowhere and being greeted by characters and situations that are weird to say it best. *I've* read the book before it, the author's note and was still forced to read the first 10 pages of the book again to figure out where the hell I was.

Okay, my brain hasn't been all that cooperative about relaxation time lately but still, some description of a setting might be a good way to make it clear that the voices you are reading are not being suspended in some deep void.

Cindy Blurb: Jenny, the beautiful blonde, blue-eyed heroine of the book is the best friend of the people who have a life - hey, at that point her name could be Cindy but that would be my own issues. Yeah, so Jenny is bright and funny and life is passing her by at the ripe old age of 22. *cough* bitch *cough* She's at her friend's wedding when the groom gets shot but, it's okay because he wears a bullet proof vest (do you know why? No? That's too bad, because this book should be able to stand on it's own - ooops, bitchy Cindy has come out to play). Jenny catches the bad guy and by this I mean, the bad guy is the hero Kevin Stone and he let's her capture him. Afterall, he was in deep cover and everyone forgot about him. Hmm, things sounding familiar?

To sum up, Jenny and Kevin go back into his deep cover to put monkeys in a few wrenches and well, they fell in love the minute they met. Perfect. I love these kind of books. Can you tell?

And there is a happily ever after. Good.

I did like reading this book. No really. It is definitely one of her better ones but if *I* notice editing issues then it's gotta be bad because for the most part, I'm a dope. Timeline issues. Don't have you're heroine thinking about how at least she isn't still wearing her bridesmaids dress at the firing range because, DUDE, the wedding was yesterday and shit has happened since them.

You know, just silly stuff that would probably only make my head implode. I'm sure no one else even noticed. Oh, wait, I'm a dope soooo, yeah, someone else might see it.

Still. I enjoyed the story and it's better than Derik's Bane which I couldn't stand so if you loved DB, which many people did, then take what I say with a boat of salt.

Okay. That's all I got.

Oh and you all know I'm still going to buy her next Betsy book because I am a slut for MJD.

Man, I suck. She must love fans like me.

Bridal Favors by Connie Brockway

Finally. I was beginning to think I would never finish another book again. All it takes is plunking the butt in the chair and ignoring things like laundry, dinner, the husband and the insistent barking of dogs.

This is normally quite easy when I am knee deep in a book but this one never grabbed me.

So, I've decided the book is a C because every time I went to pick it up I couldn't remember what the story was about and in the end, meh.

Cindy Blurb: At the age of 15, Evie meets Justin in the middle of the night leaving a married woman's room while she is heading to the kitchen for a drink. It is her sister's coming out party and she is now upset that Justin might try for her. Justin assures her he will keep his distance and that she must forget she ever saw him coming from the married woman's room and in return he will be in her debt. She decides that Justin is really no harm to anyone because he is a bit of a buffoon.

Ten years later Evie cashes in and Justin lends her his country estate so that she can host a wedding for her Aunt's business that has fallen into her lap. Not important. Justin insists he needs to be on the property because he is a birder, Evie insists he keep his hands off the women (which confuses Justin) and they spend a month in each other's company. Oh and he is a master spy. If this is an example of an English spy from this era I weep for the British.

What's good about this book. Well, it's charming in a young girl's fantasy kind of way. Not so much in a grown ass woman's kind of way and well, I'm all growed up. So if you want to read a fairytale-ish romance without a lot of smarts then have at it. I'm surprised that this book is lauded as one of Brockway's best.

Problems? You betcha.

Evie was a heroine I actually liked. She was hard working, strong in her emotions and not afraid of much. Her aunt had run off to get married and left her wedding planning business without a care. Evie, who prides herself in making herself responsible for all things took the reigns and managed to make quite a mess. He last hope is to pull off one stellar wedding and her client wants her reception at one of Justin's ancestral homes. Evie has some serious self-esteem issues but then she is twenty five in a time when a woman's youth was valuable (hmmm, like today much?) and she considers herself unattractive so she makes herself invaluable to her family by being level headed and in control. I can actually understand her.

Justin, however, got the raw end of the stick because he came across as not only silly but also less than bright in the intelligence (and I mean spy) way. The more I think about it the reader never actually knows who Justin is. Is he the 'hail fellow well met' man or is he ever serious? I mean, it is suggested that as a spy he must have a serious side but I never really saw it. You caught glimpses of it through Evie but it came down to never really knowing how the real Justin would be in a family situation.

The worst was at one point Justin is musing to himself that master spies are in the intelligence gathering game and aren't in the business of killing each other.

I thought about putting the book down at this point. I also lost all respect for Justin as any sort of spy at all. He's been a spy for more than ten years and hasn't really found himself in a dangerous situation. I say he wasn't a 'master' spy at all. If Evie hadn't actually found a spy I would have suggested that Justin was delusional.

Okay, if I write anymore I might end up sandbagging the hero of this book so I will leave off here. Obviously this book was supposed to be a lark and maybe, I just wasn't in the mood for a lark.

But then again, I don't think spies live a life of carefree abandon.

Now, I'm scared to pick up another book. What if it is too frothy like this one? I need something dark and now that it's April, maybe I should do some re-reading. At this moment, however, I'm going to go veg in front of the TV.