Author: debra

Reviews

My Kind of Wonderful by Jill Shalvis

debra

My Kind of Wonderful is the second story in the Cedar Ridge Series by Jill Shalvis.  I enjoy Ms. Shalvis’ work.  She writes contemporary romances and excels in writing stories set in small towns usually inhabited by a great group of characters with some interesting locals thrown in for comic relief and I am a sucker for these types of stories.

First the blurb:

UNEXPECTED AND UNDENIABLE…

Bailey Moore has an agenda: skiing in the Rockies, exploring castles in Europe, ballroom dancing in Argentina. Now that she has a second lease on life, she’s determined not to miss a thing. What she doesn’t realize is that item #1 comes with a six-foot-one ski god hot enough to melt a polar ice cap. She doesn’t want to miss out on him either, but Hudson Kincaid isn’t the type of guy to love and let go. And as gorgeous as Cedar Ridge is, she’s not planning to stick around.

As head of ski patrol at his family’s resort, Hud thinks he’s seen it all. But never has he run into someone like Bailey. She might look delicate, but her attitude is all firecracker. And her infectious joy touches something deep within him that he’s been missing far too long. Now he’ll just have to convince Bailey to take a chance on her biggest adventure yet . . . something rare and all kinds of wonderful.

My review:

I liked both leads in this story.  Bailey is recovering from a terminal illness and has started working on her bucket list.  The first item to tackle is doing a mural.  She has been commissioned (although she is doing it for free) by Hudson’s mother, a delightful character in a nursing home suffering from memory problems.  Hudson wants nothing to do with the mural.  While Bailey is painting the mural, she and Hudson’s relationship develops.  During the course of the book, Bailey finds out why Hudson is so withdrawn from everyone on an emotional level which is really very sad for his character.   How they overcome the obstacles of their relationship is the true story.

Ms. Shalvis writes well and her characters engage me from the beginning.  Not every author can do that.  Another character in this book I enjoyed was the mountains of Cedar Ridge.  Ms. Shalvis’ descriptions of the mountains and the ski lodge and the joys and dangers (with humor thrown in also) is enjoyable.  Of course, as a resident of  the Tahoe area, I sure she understands this aspect of her story very well.

 

 

 

Books, Out of the Box Blogs, Reviews

Ebooks Part II

debra

This is Part II of “My Love/Hate of Ebooks” blog.  I enjoyed the other discussion and I hope to get your thoughts on this part of the “rant” as well.

I love my ebooks.  I like being able to take my reader with me and have a lot of books available.  I am sometimes a mood reader or I want to re-read a favorite book so the reader solves that problem for me.

My problem with ebooks besides the ones outlined in Part I of this article is the pricing of them.  Why are ebooks priced similarly to printed books?  I have even seen on the site I buy ebooks from that some books I have been interested in are a  few pennies higher than the printed book.  This is illogical to me.  I have had someone explain the mechanics of ebooks to me (this person is in the know on this subject).  I also have my own common sense to base this on.  If all that is needed is the master copy of the book, and there are not the customary costs of a printed book (paper, ink, shipping, etc.), then why are they the same or more than a printed book?  I certainly want the author to make what they deserve for the enjoyment they give to us with their stories.  I also want the companies selling the books to make the profits due them.  They keep people employed and this is critical.  It just seems that ebook pricing is out of line with production.

My other problem with ebooks is that for many of them, especially new books or books by well-known authors, they cannot be loaned.  My mother and I would loan books to each other of authors we enjoyed in common.  One of us would buy the book and the other read it also.  I also do this with my aunt and a friend who is reading the same series that I am.  Now, everybody does this.  It is also a way of introducing friends/family to new authors that they have not yet read.  You simply cannot do this with a lot of ebooks.  My question is why not?  What is the difference in doing this and checking out a book at a public library (which I support whole-heartedly).  I will often go to our public library and check out books and place a hold on new releases especially.  I have also oftentimes gotten an ebook downloaded from our public library.  Why is this different from me wanting to share an ebook with a friend.  I realize it is so the publisher can get more sales, but again loaning a book can often open up more sales in the long run if we convert a reader to a new author.

Again, I love ebooks and I realize the industry is forming and some of this may be “growing pains” with a new industry—I just feel the ebook industry has some work to do to improve itself.  These are just a few ramblings about problems I see.

Happy Reading,

Debra

Books, great reads, Reviews

Fighting Dirty by Lori Foster

debra

Ms. Foster is one of my favorite go-to authors.  I love her writing.  You see her characters as real people that you just can’t help but grow to care about.

We finally have the story for Armie and Rissy and Ms. Foster does not disappoint! Fighting Dirty is the fourth and final installment of her Ultimate Series.  This series follows the lives of several fighters in the SBC, a fictional ultimate fighting company. In many series, I think there is one character that seems to capture the imagination and affection of the readers and all of us wait for that character’s book.  In Ms. Foster’s Ultimate Series that character is Armie.   I, along with a lot of her readers, have been fascinated by Armie from the very beginning. We have seen small snippets of their story throughout the prior books in this series.  He is a character with a dark secret in his past, an uninhibited outlook on physical relationships and he absolutely has a heart of gold towards people he cares about.  He has been in love with Rissy for years, yet he never admitted it and never pursued her due to his belief that he wasn’t the right man for her.  Rissy is the little sister of Cannon Colter (the hero from No Limits), Armie’s best friend who has stood by him through everything—including Armie’s past.  That alone made Rissy off limits for him.  Coupled with the fact that Rissy is a “good girl” in Armie’s book, he knows that they will never have a future.  What he did not count on was Rissy herself and her views on things.  Rissy loves Armie just as he is and accepts him for who he is.  I was glad that Armie shared his secret with Rissy early on and I thought her acceptance of Armie was a well-written scene.  Rissy is a strong female lead and a great match for Armie.  There is also a suspense plotline ranging from a bank robbery where Armie saves everyone to an attack on one of the characters just to keep things  interesting.

I loved this story.  Both Armie and Rissy are great characters and the chemistry between them is smokin’ hot yet there is also a sense of sweetness about them.  You actually root for these characters to make it.  This story also has some nice humor in it.  I also enjoyed seeing the characters from the previous books  in this book. I have always enjoyed Ms. Foster’s dialogue in her stories.  The dialogue is believable and well-written.  I hate to see this series end but am always looking forward to the next series she writes.

I received an ARC of Fighting Dirty in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Reading,

Debra

 

 

Out of the Box Blogs

Christian by D.B. Reynolds

debra

Hey everyone,

Christian by D.B. Reynolds is the latest in her Vampires in America Series.  I love this series more as it goes along.  The Vampire Wars are starting.  Raphael (undeniably, the head honcho in America) has been building the North American Alliance throughout the beginning books in this series in order to defeat the coming threat from Europe.  The next area in North America to need a new lord is the South.  Christian is determined to become the South’s new Lord.  Along the way, he does find his mate in the person of Natalie, a human forensic accountant working for the current Lord, Anthony.  The Challenge for the lordship is on and Christian is more powerful than the other challengers.  However, Anthony has a plan for a successor which will enable him to remain in power in another area.  Twists and turns and strategy are strong on both sides (Anthony and Christian).  The skirmishes leading up to the ultimate battle are interesting, full of action and the ultimate battle is exciting and written very well.  We also get a big hint as to the next book battle at the end of this book.I personally can not wait for this next story, also.

Ms. Reynolds is great at world building and character development–two of my big things in reading.  Her dialogue is smartly written and the plot is tight.  She does not write filler in her books–she keeps her story moving along without alot of extra stuff that doesn’t add to the story.  When I found her VIA series several years ago, I was very pleased at a refreshing voice in the paranormal romance genre.  If you have not found this series, I recommend starting at the beginning with Raphael and just enjoy the ride all the way to Christian’s book.

Happy Reading,

Debra