Guess what? I reviewed all the books I wanted to (you know, when I write "Review to come" in my monthly reads list), except for one and I plan to do it this week... LOL, I mean, it's so rare for me to review all the books I read. So to review all the books I want to review, that's quite an accomplishment as well :P In addition, I was also able to review a couple of books I've read this month! Wow, I'm impressed at myself, LOL.
So here is my list of reads for the month of February:
1) Ravishing in Red by Madeline Hunter: BReview to come at Breezing Through
2) Lessons from a Scarlet Lady by Emma Wildes: B+
Review to come at Breezing Through
3) Archangel's Kiss by Nalini Singh: B++
4) Spider's Bite by Jennifer Estep: A-
5) Slow Heat by Jill Shalvis: B-As a whole, I did enjoy Slow Heat more than Double Play. It's the feeling I got while reading Slow Heat, more fun I guess. However, Slow Heat was definitively not a perfect read and I had some issues with it, mostly Sam. I was looking forward to this book from the teaser we got in Double Play and while I really liked Wade, Sam disappointed me. Mostly, I found Sam too uptight, nervous and almost with a lack of self-confidence, which made it hard for me to believe she was a successful PR... and I felt she didn't understand her clients either. For example, when she discovered that Wade's father was still alive, she immediately brought up the issue with Wade and ask if they could both participate for the Father/Son day. She didn't take two seconds to think. Coming from a dysfunctional family, I thought she would have been smarter than that. Obviously, if Wade doesn't want people to know his father is alive is because there's something going on somewhere. Whether it's bad blood between them or his father preferring a secret life or whatever. Yes, she's focused on her work, but it almost made her stupid. I'm not saying she shouldn't have brought it up, but I think she should have taken 2 seconds to think about.
I thought the whole "pretend" relationship was ridiculous at the end. It dragged way too long in my opinion. Seriously, when you cannot keep your hands off the other person and you'd have sex several times together... It's not a pretended relationship anymore and obviously, it's not a one-night stand. So sit down and discuss about it. Seriously, I thought they figured it out that it wasn't pretended anymore... till the one month was up. So Sam wants to know what is it between her and Wade, but she won't even take a step to figure it out... Instead, she just breaks if off. Wow, tha's going to advance your relationship Sam.
I did Sam's nephew, Tag. He was entertaining, unfortunately, I didn't "feel" that storyline. I usually enjoy this type of storylines where the hero or heroine suddenly become a guardian... but something was off in this one. I felt that at the end, it didn't impact the storyline that much. Also, I can't believe she's only met her nephew three times in his 10 years of existence. It makes sense when you live in different states, but in Sam and her family case, when they move around so much... it was just weird. Also, Wade's father storyline - meh. I thought it was quite superfluous and it didn't bring much to the storyline, especially with the ending we got.
So yeah, it does sound like I did have a lot of issues with it and I did... but somehow, I ended up enjoying it more than Double Play. Go figure.
6) Truly, Madly by Heather Webber: B+
Review to come.
7) Fantasy in Death by J.D. Robb: C
Review to come.
8) Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen: BI bought this book because Ames enjoyed it so much and I've heard a lot of good things about Sarah Dessen. Now I understand why Ms Dessen is such a hit. While the story didn't quite reach me, I thought the book was cute and the writing was very engaging. It's fun to see characters like Auden discover themselves, reaching a new phase of their life. I like that most of the characters in this book were very mature. I like how Ms Dessen says looks are deceiving... and I'd have enjoyed it more if Auden didn't break with Eli that first time... So yes, I enjoyed it but didn't really connect.
9) Present Danger by Susan Andersen: B-
Review to come; TBR Challenge (either February or March :P)
10) Moonlight Road by Robyn Carr: C
Review to come - I'm going to do a twofer this week, Angel's Peak with Moonlight Road.
11) Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen: BAnother Sarah Dessen's book. I got this one because the blurb really got me curious and like I said earlier, I like hero/heroine becoming guardians. I really enjoyed this book for Ruby, Jamie and Cora's interaction. Jamie was so much fun :) Again, the book was a little bit about a young girl discovering herself and the world around her. I like how Ms Dessen deals with very dark issues, without over-dramatizing it in her books. What happens to the characters feels very realistic and I think that's why she's such a hit. It's great to find young adult straight contemporary :P
12) Pleasure of a Dark Prince by Kresley Cole: B
Review to come.
13) Shadalor's Lady by Anne Bishop: A-
Review to come.
14) The Shadow Queen by Anne Bishop: B+
Review to come; Re-Read Challenge.
So 14 books this month :) Not bad considering there was the Olympics and February is a shorter month after all :) And I'm very happy because I've read some really good books :) So quality over quantity, right? :) As you can see as well, lots of reviews to come :) Hopefully, I'll be a good blogger and write them out.
What surprised me most though in February was the number of 2010 releases I've read. I mean, on 14 reads, 10 of them were 2010 releases... and I mean, we're only 2 months into 2010 right? So it was just one new book after the other... which brings me to some more numbers...
Books bought: +21
Books read: -14
TBR pile: +7
LOL, okay, so I've been a buying machine these past two months... However, can you imagine, I've saved more than a 100$ in 2 months?!?! It's insane no? I definitively blame all the coupons and promotions that Chapters/Indigo/Coles are having. Anyway, I'm going to try to control myself for the next 2 months... since I'm going to RT convention in April. Wish me luck!!
