Thursday, June 2, 2016

Something To Talk About. May's Reading #bookshelf

I read in spurts during May. I've been trying to make sure I have a balance of work and family, but it's hard when a story is flowing well. Releasing Chaos finally found it's stride, so instead of allowing writing to eat into my family time, I sacrificed my evening reading hours. My reading usually starts after Jason goes to bed, but in the past couple of weeks I re-purposed those hours to work on Releasing Chaos. I would really love to have the book finished in the next couple of weeks and so have been pushing hard. 

All in all, what I did get a chance to read was excellent. :)

For me, this series is a great mixture of urban fantasy, action, and romantic elements. I love the world built here and I will be sad when the last book comes out. Kellen's Awakening breaks your heart a couple of times but the story needed to be told in this way. Seriously, I love the troll maintenance dude. He had a small part in the story but I loved that he came through with a smash. :)


I loved finding this Wytch King series about dragons. The two books in the series so far are Burn The Sky and Blackfrost, but I'm hoping for more because this world has so much potential for different plots. (And I get more dragons.) For me, Blackfrost is a little bit darker than the first book. In Burn The Sky there were characters I didn't like but in Blackfrost I simply despised a couple. I was impatient to the bad guys to get their comeuppance, and the longer it went on the more blood thirsty I became. Great series and I hope there will be more to come.

If you love mpreg and knotting, then you'll love this first book. (I think this series will be a trilogy but don't quote me on it.) First Omega is well written with great character depth set in an alternate world where humans know about wolf shifters. Josiah is the ambassador sent to learn more about the shifters and instead uncovers something about himself that changes everything he thought he knew. And he's quite stubborn which was refreshing.


Love me some Bailey. This is one of several of the multi-author Dubious series that I picked up from ARe. I probably should clear one thing up about Prey Mate. There are no prey shifters involved in the story. LOL! I think I might've been one of a few who didn't go into the story thinking I was going to get a bunny or squirrel shifter. It's about the chase and kidnapping of Cody, as in Cody being the prey of a hunter. It had the right amount of angst for me and the history of the shifters was something I hadn't seen before.

This was quick, fun read about an ice dragon hiding about at a mountain retreat as a guide. He doesn't have nice thoughts about other dragons, and when he meets Levy, he mistakes him for another dragon. The budding relationship between the two is the main focus of the story with the mpreg being the icing on the cake at the end. And you know, dragons. It seems I'm on a dragon kick this month. 


So I've read a goodly amount of MC/Biker romances. Usually they are more about nice wholesome girls from all walks of life falling in love with a bad boy. In some, the bikers really are criminals and they like it that way. Others, its just a persona and a deep comradery between the MC brothers. If the plot is a romance, then I have to be convinced the heroine finds something redeemable and falls in love. Many times I'm not convinced and 8x out of 10 I'm not a fan of the woman.  Not every book in a series is a hit with me either. What I liked about Nomads' Fall is Jolly. This story is more on the erotic side than romance, and Jolly isn't really a "good girl". Actually, this was a breath of fresh air because it wasn't about an angsty romance. Jolly took care of her own problems and told the men to shove-off when their arrogance took over. I liked it a lot and didn't have to read the first book in the series in order to understand what was going on. A big plus for me because some storylines I'm not interested in so I can skip around.

This was a cute, quick read about a knight sent out to rescue a princess so he could marry well. Only, he doesn't want to marry a princess or anyone else but his father has given him a ultimatum. Yes, yes. Another dragon story. Destiny & Dragons is the third book in the Fairy Tales For All series. Let Your Hair Down and Potions & Prisons are the other two books in the series and can be read as standalones.


Confession: I haven't read any other book in this series. I saw shifters and poly and jumped on board. I wasn't lost which is an A+ and really enjoyed the bit of angst this offered without it going overboard. I do plan on going back and reading from the beginning and I'm invested in this little town of omega shifters who are bucking the system and their allies... LOL! I didn't mean it that way.


Goblet's Edge is exactly the type of romance that I would expect between people of two different classes in the Victorian age. This has that steampunk feel as well as a different history on vampires. August is the valet to a duke who is betrothed to the queen. The wedding is weeks away and August is unsure where he will stand in the duke's affections. August and the duke also share a secret that August is afraid the queen will discover. There is so much detail in this short story that I could see the scenery from the train, imagine the stately castle. There is something else I want to say about the relationship between the three and my view of the importance of the queen, but that would be giving away spoilers so I'll hold my tongue.

Megan writes excellent grumpy dudes and has great finesse doling out details. This is about a forty-something necromancer and a twenty-something dragon forced into marriage. I loved both Tilo's persistence and Rochus stubbornness. Both of them have good hearts. I've already read it three times. :)


So I didn't read the blurb. I noticed it was the sequel to Romanus, which I read a looong while back, and just cracked it open. I was about half way through when I realized who the characters were from the first book, but I wasn't lost at all. I loved the gargoyle mythos and Mason's to-hell-with-all-of-you-if-you-don't-approve attitude. And seriously, gargoyles. I've been looking for gargoyle romances and there are so few. I hope she continues the series. Can't have enough gargoyle... or dragons. :)

Thank you for stopping by and reading!!

No comments:

Post a Comment