Still Catching Up

I'm going to try to get through the remainder of the titles on my list, but a few may have to be held over until tomorrow.

'Blood Rights' by Kristen Painter is a book I wanted to read because the cover is absolutely gorgeous. It's the first book in a new Urban Fantasy vampire series and, if I weren't so very burned out on the whole lot of 'em, I would have probably enjoyed it a lot more. That said, though, it wasn't bad. It kept me entertained for a few hours and I was engaged enough with the characters to want to see how the story turned out. As a bonus, the cover was actually representative of the content, which made me happy. I thought it was just pretty to sucker in readers like me. Nope. It actually meant something. So, bravo anonymous (to me) cover designer.

'Scandalous Desires' by Elizabeth Hoyt is the third book in her Maiden Lane historical romance series and my favorite so far. It had a pirate in it. And, not just any old pirate, but a Thames River Pirate, which isn't a hero I've run into before. It was, of course, full of drama and high emotion and damaged characters, which is standard for Hoyt. It also featured another lovely fairy tale serving as chapter headings. I still believe that Ms. Hoyt should collect all of the fairy tales she's created for her novels and sell them as a collection. They're absolutely lovely. Even if her novels were less than wonderful, I'd probably continue to read them simply for the fairy tales.

'Endurance' is the sequel to Jay Lake's 'Green', which is a favorite of mine. I've been eagerly anticipating this sequel and, though I didn't swoon over it quite as much as I did with 'Green', it was still  very, very good. It set things up for a third volume, which, with the new developments in this volume, should be fascinating. I'm sure to find myself growing impatient while I wait. I'm excited to see how Green and her world will react to the events and revelations of 'Endurance'.

'The Virtuoso' is another historical Romance from one of my favorite authors. Grace Burrowes only has four books under her belt, but all of them have been outstanding. The events of this novel occur before those of 'Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish', though that novel will be published first. It doesn't really matter, though, because everyone knows you get a Happily Ever After at the end of a Romance novel. The joy is in how the author gets you there. So, it's not like reading 'Lady Sophie' first is really going to spoil anything for you. On the other hand, if you're a stickler for chronological order, you should definitely read 'The Virtuoso' first. But, whichever order you read them in, you need to read them if you like historical Romances. I promise you won't be sorry.

'Genie Knows Best' by Judi Fennell is the second novel in her genie romance series. It's fun and fast-paced and enjoyable and served as a nice change of Romance pace from the deep, painful emotional journeys of the Hoyt and Burrowes novels.

'Too Wicked to Wed' by Cara Elliott is a book I remember enjoying reading, but I can't recall much about it at all. Which just goes to show that I need to write these posts when the books are still fresh in my mind, rather than days or weeks later.

'Heart of Darkness' is the first book in a new series by Lauren Dane. It's UF about witches. I remember liking  the story and characters okay, but getting annoyed by some of the dialogue, which occasionally felt as if it would have been more at home in the mouth of a teenager than a high-powered lawyer/witch.

'Until There Was You' is the new novel from Kristan Higgins, who has always been kind of hit or miss for me. I know she has fans who think she can do no wrong, but some of her heroines are so needy that I can't imagine that anyone would put up with them for long. This, however, was not one of those books. It was sweet and tender and touching and had me tearing up in places. Definitely a hit.

'You're (Not) the One' by Alexandra Potter was okay. It had magic in it (or something that passed for magic, anyway), but, like most RomComs, the resolutions to the A and B plots were just too easy and convenient, magic or no.

'The Sinner' by Margaret Mallory was a Scottish historical Romance, which I usually avoid like the plague because the dialect is so damned annoying. Thankfully, Ms. Mallory keeps it to a minimum, so I was able to enjoy the reading experience. I don't know that I'm going to start downing kilt & claymore novels regularly, but it was nice to see that not all of them think that every other word needs to be "ach" or "dinna".

'The Affair' by Lee Child was a Reacher novel. If you're a fan, you know what to expect and won't be disappointed. If you're not already a fan, this wouldn't be a bad place to start, since it's the story of how Reacher became Reacher.

Okay. I'm going to stop now. That leaves five books on my list to be covered tomorrow and then I can get back to some kind of normal schedule that is, I hope, devoid of these monster posts.