All Booked Up

Cards on the Table by Josh Lanyon My rating: 5 of 5 stars I really, really enjoyed this one. A subtle look at what it takes to put all of your cards on the table and go after what you want. Be it love, happiness, forgiveness or solving a 50-year old murder you're writing a book about. View all my reviews

A New Year's Surprise by Violette Dubrinsky My rating: 3 of 5 stars Interracial Romance A to Z Challenge: N Hated the writing, but loved the content. A cute story about trust and fidelity in a marriage after childbirth. View all my reviews

Dirty Tactics by Peyton Banks My rating: 3 of 5 stars Interracial Romance A to Z Challenge: D It wasn't the best or the worst, but it was an absolutely entertaining guilty pleasure. View all my reviews

A Case of Christmas by Josh Lanyon My rating: 5 of 5 stars A cute, fast-paced, funny look at lost-love and second chance romance. View all my reviews

This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee My rating: 2 of 5 stars #PopsugarReadingChallenge2019 Prompt - A retelling of a classic: Frankenstein. It wasn't terrible. Let me stress that first, it was not terrible. It was very imaginative regarding the actual science. I don't think I've ever read a clockpunk before, so it was something new. It explored social themes that I enjoy, even though they didn't make much sense here because of the time period in which the book it set. Apart from that, everything else here was a miss for me. The main character was a whiny, selfish brat. The villains were cartoonish. Mary Shelley being part of the story could have been interesting if she, you know, had an ounce of personality. And "the Monster" was the most complex character but he didn't get nearly enough page time. Still, wasn't terrible for a debut novel. View all my reviews

The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe My rating: 5 of 5 stars #PopsugarReadingChallenge2019 Prompt - A book you see someone reading on TV or in a movie: Daria Morgendorffer, Daria. Still one of the best gothic horror stories I've ever read. I can't think of anything more frightening than a killer that kills without motive. View all my reviews

Rogue Dragon by Kassanna My rating: 3 of 5 stars Interracial Romance A to Z Challenge: R I was looking for something quick and fun to read to brighten my mood and this story delivered just that. View all my reviews

The She-Hulk Diaries by Marta Acosta My rating: 2 of 5 stars #PopsugarReadingChallenge2019 Prompt - A book about someone with a superpower: Jennifer Walters aka She-Hulk. The Carrie Diaries , Sex and the City , and Bridget Jones's Diary meet everyone's favorite 80s Green Girl. ...where it quickly devolves into a horrible mess and fails the Bechdel test epically . If I hadn't grown up with Jenny, I would have at least liked the book. It is funny in some parts; but I did grow up with Jenny and her She-Hulk persona, so whoever was in this book only shares the name and none of the attributes and characteristics that made them a great character in the first place. View all my reviews

The Magician Murders by Josh Lanyon My rating: 2 of 5 stars ...what the hell was that?! If I hadn't seen the hit/miss style of writing in the first Adrien English book, I wouldn't have believed that JL wrote this. Apart from the relationship growth (mostly Sam) and the minuscule character growth (all Sam), this book was one boring dud. I really need Jason to grow. up. fast! You can't want Sam to communicate and then disregard everything he says. And you've really gotta stop making the worst decisions ever to prove that hot-shot BAU Chief Sam Kennedy didn't settle for a pretty boy. Talk to him the same way you're begging him to talk to you. Just...ugh...be an adult. Ended on a cliffhanger, but I'm fine with that because it means they'll be back. View all my reviews

Chained by Elise Marion My rating: 4 of 5 stars Interracial Romance A to Z Challenge: C That was everything I love about historical medieval romance done very well. The world building was amazing and vivid, the main characters were fantastic, the slow-burn build-up... ahhh . I especially enjoyed this because the world was believably multicultural. That alone puts it in a whole other class. I look forward to the sequel and getting my hands on the prequels. SN: My previous status update correcting the genre should have been 65% instead of 20%. I did, however, read this book in about 2 days thanks to the snow storm. Plus, I really enjoyed it. View all my reviews

The Monet Murders by Josh Lanyon My rating: 4 of 5 stars #PopsugarReadingChallenge2019 Prompt - Two books that share the same title (1) My 13th Josh Lanyon book did not disappoint. As usual, I was engaged from the start and encountered characters that I grew to like over the course of the story. Back with Special Agent Jason West of the Art Crime Team division of the FBI, we start at a dedication ceremony for his grandfather when his phone rings and it's BAU Unit Chief Sam Kennedy, informing Jason that he's about to called to a crime scene. From there, your standard mystery ensues, and it was great. I didn't figure it out, which is always a point for me, and it was great to see Jason on his turf. The previous book was more about what Sam is used to dealing with and Jason was a fish out of water. Here, he's master of his domain and that extra boost of confidence was essential to his character development because he spent a fair portio...

Taken By Moonlight by Violette Dubrinsky My rating: 5 of 5 stars Interracial Romance A to Z Challenge: T #PopsugarReadingChallenge2019 Prompt - A book inspired by mythology, legend, or folklore: Greek and Celtic Mythology. I've had this book and a few others by this author on the TBR for years but hadn't gotten to them, and I'm honestly kicking myself for that right now because this was awesome. This was everything I love about UF/PR done extremely well. It was a lot, and there were times where the characters did something that annoyed me or seemed a stereotypical trope for the genre, but this was so well thought out that those behaviors were explained. That is awesome. I can't even fully explain how well thought out this was because it ties directly into the plot and progression of the story. But, trust me, it was great. The writing was kind of clunky in parts and repetitive in others, but I liked the story so much that I'm willi...

Sweet Obsession by D.A. Young My rating: 1 of 5 stars Interracial Romance A to Z Challenge: S #PopsugarReadingChallenge2019 Prompt - A book with a title that contains "salty", "sweet", "bitter", or "spicy" A RomCom that started off pretty decently and then went way off the rails. Two friends who are secretly in love with each other enter into a marriage of convenience when the heroine find herself in trouble with an ex. The hero, not missing a chance to finally get the woman he loves, suggests they get married for a short time, while secretly pledging to win her heart during their marriage. Romantic hijinks ensue as they learn they've been in love with each other for years, while his two brothers and her two best friends also embark on romances of their own. What's not to like, right? Well, I'll tell you. The damn writing. Listen, I like smut with the best of them, but the old saying "a li...

Winter by Josh Lanyon My rating: 4 of 5 stars #PopsugarReadingChallenge2019 Prompt - A ghost story This was more than a ghost story/paranormal mystery. It was a story about coping with loss, love, grief, forgiveness and finding the after when every breath you take in grief burns like acid in your lungs, when you aren't even sure there is an after. Having lost my mother to cancer almost 2 years ago now, I could relate on a personal level. Grief does touch us all at one time or another. And as usual, JL has crafted a story that I can get lost in and characters that I don't mind spending time with. View all my reviews

Across The Tracks by Xyla Turner My rating: 2 of 5 stars Interracial Romance A to Z Challenge: A An expository essay about race in an interracial relationship with sex thrown in. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised to see that, while Rich was prejudiced, he wasn't necessarily a neo-nazi who decided that, "Oh, black people are okay because I want to bang this black woman." I probably would have tossed the book because I loathe that subgenre. A lot. I find it extremely insulting. And another point of enjoyment was the subject matter because it is a topic that I enjoy seeing explored. That doesn't mean that I liked the book though. All of the characters, including the mains, were annoying assholes. And expository writing is my second least favorite writing prose when it comes to fiction. It's boring. I didn't like Show & Tell as a child, I definitely don't want it in a romance novel. View all ...

The New Atlantis by Ursula K. Le Guin My rating: 3 of 5 stars #POPSUGARReadingChallenge2019 Prompt: A "cli-fi"(climate fiction) book. A dystopian cli-fi interspersed with romance and hard science. Yes, a weird combination, I know, but I liked it though. I'm hard pressed to find an UKlG book that I don't like or that doesn't reach me in some way. View all my reviews

The Enforcer by Kaye Blue My rating: 2 of 5 stars Interracial Romance A to Z Challenge: E This was...a mess, honestly. The writing was the flowing, break-neck pace that I've come to expect from Kaye Blue, and most of the time, I'm fine with that. This book was told from one pov, which was a huge improvement for me. I really, really hate alternating povs outside of space operas or other books that cover a vast area or time because the characters are usually together. I can get beyond it most of the time, when I have to, but I don't really like it. Especially if it doesn't add anything to the story, but I digress. So, while I did enjoy one part of it (besides the sex), there was a huge part missing. Like, character motivation. The dude is a mob enforcer, presumably by choice, so....why? How did he get involved? Did they offer a great 401k? Dental work? What? He said explicitly that he doesn't want to be the boss, so....what's t...

The Mermaid Murders by Josh Lanyon My rating: 4 of 5 stars #PopsugarReadingChallenge2019 - Your favorite prompt from a past POPSUGAR reading challenge: 2018 prompt/A book with an LBGTQ+ protagonist Josh Lanyon books are becoming a favorite for me. This is my 10th so far, and as always, I have to force myself to put it down in order to go about my daily life. I am an adult after all. I won't go in depth about what exactly worked here and what didn't, partly because I don't have the time right now, and also because there really isn't much that I didn't like about it. I liked Jason and Sam from the start. Having read a few of this author's mystery series before, I was worried about the same characterization from previous novels going in, but was pleasantly surprised to find that I could easily distinguish them. The framework might have been the same, but Jason was definitely different from Elliot, who was also different from Adri...