Just Friends by Natasha5

I found this real gem of a short book that a friend of mine was reading over at Goodreads.

You need to read this. Its available for free here

This was a very sweet read about two childhood friends, Adrian and Friday, who love each other and are always together. They're just friends, real close friends.

This is a coming of age story where Adrian discovers his feelings for Friday.

I loved Friday with his pacifist ways and big curls and flowers in his hair. What I liked best was I didn’t have to dislike one character to root for the others. This is written well enough that you can see things from all the 3 main characters points of view.

I wonder what Friday and Adrian are up to now.
Every chapter begins and ends with a snippets of a Bob Marley song.  I've been singing Bob Marley since I read this yesterday. Isn't it great when a book leaves you in a happy mood


Btw, there's a sequel (or more of an epilogue) to this story: Johnny Was.
I should also mention here that Adrian and Friday are both guys, so if you don't read MM, (even if this one is only light kissing) ....

Read more...

Promises Linger by Sarah McCarty

Series: Promises, Book 1


Genre: Romance

Copyright: 2004

Pages: 422

Rating: 3.5  / 5

Synopsis:
1868 Wyoming Territory
Elizabeth Coyote will do anything, anything at all, to save the ranch she loves, including marrying Asa MacIntyre, a broad shouldered, lean hipped silver eyed gunslinger with a ruthless reputation for getting the job done.
Asa dreams of a place of his own, a wife, and the respect that comes with both. Marrying Elizabeth may have started as a means to an end, but nothing in Asa's wildest dreams prepares him for the excitement of unleashing the carnal woman beneath his wife's prim and proper exterior.

Review:
A surprisingly sweet story, i expected total erotica considering the novel cover and instead got a pretty good story.
A hard ass woman who wants to keep her marriage impersonal and business-like and a handsome warrior man looking for respectability and a family he's never had. I wish i had myself an Asa McIntyre.

Definitely going to read the next series in the book
(yes yes,  the review is shorter than the synopsis, but together they pretty much say everything that needs to be said)

Read more...

According To Jane - Marilyn Brant

352 pages
Blurb: It begins one day in sophomore English class, just as Ellie Barnett's teacher is assigning Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice". From nowhere comes a quiet 'tsk' of displeasure. The target: Sam Blaine, the cute bad boy who's teasing Ellie mercilessly, just as he has since kindergarten. Entirely unbidden, as Jane might say, the author's ghost has taken up residence in Ellie's mind, and seems determined to stay there. Jane's wise and witty advice guides Ellie through the hell of adolescence and beyond, serving as the voice she trusts, usually far more than her own. Years and boyfriends come and go - sometimes a little too quickly, sometimes not nearly fast enough. But Jane's counsel is constant, and on the subject of Sam, quite insistent. Stay away, Jane demands. He is your Mr. Wickham. Still, everyone has something to learn about love - perhaps even Jane herself. And lately, the voice in Ellie's head is being drowned out by another, urging her to look beyond everything she thought she knew and seek out her very own, very unexpected, happy ending.

Rating: 5++ / 5

You need to read this book, it is absolutely delightful. I'm still a bit stunned and not quite sure where to start with this review.

The Book blurb really says it all perfectly in this one case.

Ellie is handed a copy of Pride and Prejudice in school, and behind her Sam is busy teasing her. And suddenly there's a voice in Ellie's head telling her to stay away from him. He is your Mr. Wickham says the voice of Jane Austen in her head.

And there it begins. Ellie's journey through life with Jane Austen as friend and counsellor for the next 20 odd years of her life - through her trials as a teenager, fitting in with her family, school and the years beyond, her hopes and dreams for the future and more importantly in her interactions with the men in her life.

Its hard to tell you what i felt for the other characters in this book without giving away any spoilers.

Ellie is a typical geek looking for a happy ending with prince charming. Along the way, you learn life lessons through Ellie's experiences and trial and error. And later through looking at past events with the fresh eyes of an adult

In school, Ellie likes Sam. She's attracted to him inspite of all Jane's warnings to pay him no attention - he's her first love. At the same time she hates Sam for his arrogant ways and confidence. And thus begins the boy trouble. And it continues for quite a while with a motley crew of men (who she tries to classify into her 6 categories of men)

Then there's Di - Ellie's elder sister who's a pain in her ass growing up. You want to hate her, and at the same time you want them to be close sisters.

As much as i wanted to hit Ellie on her head when it came to her choices in men specially when some weren't kicked out sooner - the girl is improving when it comes to who she picks. But i still wanted to hit her when it came to Sam. And hit Jane as well. Sam was too hot and too good to be blindsided for being confident.

Sam. I loved him. From the first time he was featured in page two where he called out Ellieeee

Whats bestest in this book is the writing. Its simple. Yet it has many layers. And it gives you that warm cosy feeling.  The characters are all very well written, you identify with Ellie. You want Sam. And you wish you had someone like Jane to lean on during the horrible times.

The only problem i had with this book was the ending wasnt as strong as i would have liked it to be. But it was a happy one and in its own way, a perfect one

A lil snippet of the beautiful writing:
On her failed relationships because of bad choices in men:

Ellie: Humans are complicated Jane. Really complicated. And I've made mistakes because I've repeatedly chosen not to see that.
Jane: It is more likely a result of the philosophy you persist in holding dear. Romanticism encourages an abandonment of restraint and, as you've so often wished to fall in love without regard to rationality, this invites the absurd. Your mistakes in judgement are not due to the complexity in humanity Ellie. They are due to the lens with which you view love
Ellie: You mean, i need to change the fairy take and not the man?
Jane: Precisely

This book is currently available for free at the sony e-book store

Read more...

A Tall Dark Cowboy - Mackenzie McKade

226 pages
Contemporary-romance?
Rating: 3.5 / 5
This isn't really a proper review. Just a summary of all the funny parts..This is my first Mackenzie McKade book, and the only reason i picked the e-book up last night was because it was only 139 pages.
This book doesn't really fall into erotica for me, although there is quite a bit of mattress tango in here, its written pretty well. There's a pretty good story actually. So for all of you who want to know more..presenting the parts that made this book ...umm..memorable?

First the book blurb so you know what the book is about:
Just looking for a good time...
Waiting tables in a bar full of no-good cowboys isn't Lacy Mason's idea of fun. But between her daughter's illness (daughter needs a heart transplant and is in hospital), endless doctor bills, and her college tuition, she needs the money.
What she could really use is a night of no-holds-barred passion and no-strings-attached sex. Too bad she has sworn off cowboys for life
A guy walks into a bar...
Full-time executive and retired cowboy Wyatt Anderson is drawn to Lacy from the moment he sees her. But she's an enigma. Daring and assured one moment and hesitant the next, it's as if something haunts her. Only willing to give him one night, Lacy clings tightly to her secrets.
Unfortunately for her, what Wyatt wants, Wyatt gets. And he definitely wants Lacy...

Now the fun parts:

This one while in bed - I'll add a couple of lines before it as well, so you know the whole story:
“You’re a devil,” she muttered, wanting, needing more of the sweet, sweet pain.
A lethal grin flashed for just a second. “Uh-huh,” he replied, before adding, “Can I poke you with my pitchfork?”

They fit together like a baseball in a catcher’s mitt. Like a golf ball in the eighteenth hole. Briefly, he considered sharing his analogies with her, then hesitated. Most women didn’t appreciate the analogies men made between them and sports.

“Every time I look at you I’m bewitched.” Now what guy talks like this? Ofcourse i immediately thought of the television program … and all the buildup between the two of them fizzled out with images of the Samantha twitching her nose in my mind

After unprotected sex (because stories like these need to have atleast one scenario of it):
Wyatt: "From now on my sword will wear the shield of death."

He wasn’t someone who fell in love quickly. Shit, he was an engineer. There was a process, procedures to follow. Time was required. – This was funny when I was reading it. Don't usually find internal monologue like this.

There were a lot more..some i didn't copy because this blog doesn't intend to be that trashy, and other because i forgot to note down.
This really was a lovely story though. These are two very strong, passionate and caring characters. Worth reading actually.

Read more...

The Horseman's Son - Delores Fossen

224 pages
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Too many things were happening in this story too fast and at the same time.
Dylan has just caught an intruder who claims she's his adopted son's mother and the adoption was illegal. He past is filled with girlfriends beaten up and his fiance & sister killed by someone who's not been caught yet.
Collena busted the crime ring that stole her son, but now one of them has escaped prison and is out to get her.
She wants her son back, but doesn't want to take him from the father he's known for a year - solution: Marriage
Only lots of people are after them - and it gets a bit much trying to figure out who the bad guys are and which one of them did which crime.
Nice story tho

Read more...

Her Best Friend's Lover - Shiloh Walker

264 pages
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Dale loves women, and they love him. His love life is a revolving door. No one special, no one stays, except Lauren, his best friend. She's a sweet beautiful, talented woman. His rock, the steadying influence in his life. So why is he starting to see her differently, where are these lustful thoughts coming from? Guys don't sleep with their best friends. Lauren has loved Dale for five years, from the moment she saw him. She loves his smile, his walk, his deep, sexy voice. But he isn't in love with her. She's his pal, his confidant. Until one hot, steamy night.

Lovely read that you might need tissues for.
He thinks he's in love with a childhood sweetheart who he lost to some other guy, and all the women are just substitutes.
She's loved him for years but knows he only sees her as a friend.
Then things change when she goes to apologise to him one night only to find him drunk out of his mind. They go at it, he imagines she's the childhood chick and says so. She leaves him sleeping and hopefully not remembering.
Now she's pregnant - but should she tell him? Will she loose everything she's wanted all over again?
This was a moving story - with quite a bit of sex. To go from best friends to lovers to people who have to learn to trust in each other without hurting the other any more.

A lot of philosophy in the book too. Nice true sad philosophy:
"She had wanted, she had hoped, but she had never expected to receive anything. And she had learned long ago, to pretend not to want something. That way, it hurt less when you didn’t get it."

Read more...