Book Review: Kill Me Twice, Thrill Me to Death
It’s time for me to catch up on my backlog of book reviews, so I’ve grouped these romantic suspense books into this bundled review. Now, I’ve long admired the way The Book Smugglers structured their review post, and since one of the Top 10 Things I’ve resolved to do this year ...
TBR Jan Book Review: Dear John
If I were asked to name one great male romantic fiction author 2 years ago, I would have said “None comes to my mind.” However, having read A Walk to Remember and watched the movie (on YouTube, no less!), and recently followed that up with the heart-achingly sweet war romance (well, ...
Great Western Romances: Diablo, The Scotsman and Never Love a Lawman
It’s the New Year, and time for me to catch up on that backlog of book reviews, over the next couple of weeks (I hope!). One post that has been sitting in my draft folder for the longest time, is that follow-up to the Great Western Drive spearheaded by Kristie, ...
Book Review: Lords of the Underworld series (Books 1 to 4)
Well, I did promise that the next post would be about Gena Showalter’s Lords of the Underworld series, didn’t I? And since I’ve been slacking off on posts -- the understatement of the year, if ever there was an award for it – it’s more than time I make up ...
Review: Angel's Blood, Mine to Possess
It has been a while since my last Nalini Singh novel … 14 months and 25 days if one were inclined to be precise. So, when I managed to obtain a copy of her new series debut, I decided to catch up on the Psy Changeling world. Naturally, it was a ...Since I’ve still got quite a few backlogged reviews to post, I’m bundling the following contemporary romance novels into a round-up review, just to save some time. The books
Title: Heaven, Texas
Author: Susan Elizabeth Philips
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Piatkus Books
Year Published : 2007
Stand alone or series: Book #2 in the Chicago Starrs series
Why I read it: The author is new to me, and the back cover description of the story sounded interesting.
On the Back cover:
Former sports star Bobby Denton has agreed to lend his fame and his name to a movie. But when he doesn’t show up the film company sends straight-laced Gracie Snow to bring him to the set with surprising results.
Despite his dazzling good looks and killer charm, Bobby has reservations about being a movie star- and no plans to cooperate with anyone from the studio, let alone shy little Gracie. But though she comes across as a wallflower, Bobby soon discovers Gracie is really a steel magnolia and the more time he spends in her company the more he finds himself drawn to this plain Jane with a heart of gold…
In my books …
If you enjoy humour in your romance, then this book is definitely up your alley. From page one, when the hero Bobby Tom (or BT, as he’s referred to in the book) mistook Gracie for a stripper, a birthday treat he presumed was arranged by his friends, and tried to ‘teach’ her how to do her job, the author makes you laugh out loud with the hilarious situations both lead characters get into, the bantering between the two and of course, the undeniable chemistry between them.
If you haven’t noticed this, perhaps you will now.
It’s time for me to catch up on my backlog of book reviews, so I’ve grouped these romantic suspense books into this bundled review.
Now, I’ve long admired the way The Book Smugglers structured their review post, and since one of the Top 10 Things I’ve resolved to do this year is to be more disciplined about posting, I figured that having a good structure to emulate would help a lot in clearing the backlog, so with a little bit of tweaking and my own creative interpretation, here are my opinions of Kill Me Twice and Thrill Me to Death by Roxanne St. Claire.
Title: Kill Me Twice
Author: Roxanne St. Claire
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Publisher: Pocket
Year Published : 2005
Stand alone or series: Book #1 in the Bullet Catcher series
Why I read it: Having read books 4 to 6 for the TBR Challenge hosted by Avidreader Keishon last year, and enjoyed them tremendously, I thought it was a good idea to back track and go back to the series debut which began this sexy, thrilling series.
On the Back cover:
WATCH YOUR BACK
Alex Romero is the hottest “Bullet Catcher” in the business. Tall, dark, and deadly if necessary, this high-priced bodyguard’s got the muscle and the moves — especially when it comes to the ladies. Alex can keep his beautiful clients out of danger, but sometimes they can’t keep their hands off of him. Now Alex has one last chance to prove he belongs among the elite force known as The Bullet Catchers, but his assignment is stacked…against him.
WATCH YOUR HEART
Private investigator Jasmine Adams is fiercely independent and fearless under pressure — she doesn’t need some hunk-for-hire’s help to catch the creep stalking her twin sister. But when Jazz uncovers bigger forces targeting her sister for death, she’s glad to have Alex’s brain and brawn handy. From the steamy streets of Miami to the sultry beaches of Key West, Alex and Jazz try to fight temptation as they race to keep a madman from fulfilling his promise to kill not just once, but twice. And some temptations are too powerful to resist….
If I were asked to name one great male romantic fiction author 2 years ago, I would have said “None comes to my mind.”
However, having read A Walk to Remember and watched the movie (on YouTube, no less!), and recently followed that up with the heart-achingly sweet war romance (well, sort of), I can confidently name Nichols Sparks as a favourite male author now. I gladly recommend Dear John to all die-hard romantics. Here’re the reasons why …
Synopsis:
A rebel in his younger days, John Tyree joined the army “because he needed to” and to make something out of an aimless life with an uncommunicative father. While on home leave one summer knowing he’s ready to turn over a new leaf, he met the lively Savannah Lynn Curtis, the girl of his dreams. The attraction is mutual, and the budding romance quickly turned into a serious vow, on John’s part to marry her when his tour of duty is over, and on Savannah’s part to wait for him.
However, none of them could foresee the great change that 9/11 would wrought to their lives and their love. Faced with the choice of country or love, John made a decision that changed their future. Now, finally returned, he would finally learn the transformational power of love.
One of the most exciting things about reading is joining a challenge. This year, with three challenges across different genres, it’ll require more careful planning so the journey is enjoyable yet fulfilling. Looking at the themes of the two major reading challenges I’ve signed up for, here’s the list I’ve drawn up:
Jan (Category Romances): Dear John by Nicholas Sparks
Feb (hero in pursuit): How To Tame A Modern Rogue by Diana Holquist (also for Who Are You Again?)
Mar (Historical romance or fiction or mystery):
Mansfield Park by Jane Austen – definitely can be entered for Older Than You
The Return from Troy by Lindsay Clarke
The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald – definitely can be entered for Older Than You
Apr (SFR or SF/F or fantasy):
Any of these could be entered under this category or the TBR category for 2010 or Up to You! category
Hades’ Daughter by Sara Douglass
The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley
Eldest by Christopher Paolini
Victory of Eagles by Naomi Novik
Jun (YA fiction): could be read for the 2010 Challenge — The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
While surfing the web and reading Kailana’s latest post, I stumbled across this interesting challenge that I’ve decided to join up. Hosted by Bart, the aim of the Twenty Ten Reading Challenge requires the reader to read a total 20 books, over ten categories (details here), in 2010.
The good news is crossovers with other challenges are allowed. The only thing that may make this a little tricky is that each book can only qualify for one category. So, as it sounds do-able, and fits in with my resolution to be more disciplined, and thus more well organised, I’m up for it. I haven’t made concrete plans yet, but for the TBR category, it ties in nicely with Keishon’s TBR Challenge.
These books have been sitting in my TBR pile since 2009 (some from 2008!), so hopefully I’ll be able to tell you that I finish reading them this year! I’ve created a dedicated page to keep track of these reading challenges I’ve entered into this year — yep, another nod to staying well organised.
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