Please bear in mind that I’m not a reviewer.
This is just a list of what I read and what I thought about it. My personal opinions will undoubtedly differ from yours, and they’re no reflection on the authors or their work, simply my own thoughts.
Links go to Amazon but books are available from multiple sources.
I try to buy direct from the publisher where I can.
Five Stars are given to those books that I wanted to start reading again the moment they ended. Always happy to receive recommendations in the comments.
November
The Merchant and the Clergyman – Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon … Craving more ‘fancy gentlemen and their particular friend’ type action, I fell on this and fell in love with it. I think my favourite thing about this author pairing is that the sexy times are completely seamlessly embedded in the story; there’s never a sense of “and then they had sex.” Instead, it’s always part and parcel of the story, a scene like any other that advances the plot and the characters. I like that.
Mending Him – Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon … Oh my heart. Anyone else get that special kind of squee when your favourite authors write your favourite tropes? Permanent injury? Don’t mind if I do. I’d love more than anything to have a follow up to this story. I’m so in love with the characters, I can’t even. Five Slightly Limping Stars
Solid Education – Bianca Sommerland … I don’t know quite what happened with this one but I just couldn’t connect to it. It had all the right elements that should have had me falling in love with it but it didn’t happen for me. Maybe it caught me on the wrong day. I will check out more of this author’s work though.
Lovers Entwined – Lillian Francis … I love this. Love it. Love. It. LOOOOVE IT I wish I could be more coherent about it but I’m not sure I can. It’s wonderfully, and skillfully, written; the characters are totally engaging; the premise is 100% up my alley; I wept, I laughed…the whole thing is wonderful. It’s a long one – nearly 400 pages – but I ended up reading the whole thing in one sitting because my heart just couldn’t let it go. Five Stars Pieces Of My Own Beating Heart.
For Real – Alexis Hall … Read this after a very enthusiastic post about it from a trusted author and Holy Hell, was I not disappointed! I was a little nervous about the BDSM thing and the switching first person thing, but I forgot all about that once I started. It’s a thoroughly engaging, beautifully flowing story of two people that shouldn’t work but do. A love story in leather that I’m looking forward to re-reading. Five Palm-Blushed Stars
Lesson in Love – Charlie Cochrane
Lesson in Desire – Charlie Cochrane
Lesson in Discovery – Charlie Cochrane … 1905. Jonty Stewart meets Orlando Coppersmith at the Cambridge college where they both teach, and I am totally and utterly a slave to them from that moment on.
Cute boys…check. Forbidden love…check. Interesting time period…check. Murder mysteries…check. Laughing so hard I was actually crying…check. Thinking that my heart might get ripped out of my chest…check.
I read the first three books in three days and I haven’t stopped thinking about them since. There are eleven books in the series (so far… *gives Charlie my best puppy-dog eyes*) so I’m rationing myself. The stories are good, the writing is excellent…Five Fifteen Dutiful Stars
Simon and the Christmas Spirit – Bonnie Dee and Summer Devon … A little historical quickie that was fun, but didn’t grab me like some of their other works. Worth a look if you’re after something hot and Festive.
A Taste of Honey – Anthology … I decided to try this anthology about bears as it had a couple of authors in it I knew, as well as some I wanted to try. There’s not a dud story in the bunch. They’re all very different in style and subject matter but I enjoyed them all. I was a little reluctant to fork out actually money for this but it was well worth it as I can see myself dipping back in to re-read some of these. Not sure about awarding stars but it gets a definite “Woof” from me.
