Monthly Reads - February 2013

Woohoo, you gotta love scheduled post! Can't believe that I have at least one! :) Yay!  Since I'm writing this before I leave for Punta Cana, it means that the mini-reviews are pretty rushed. However, I think they reflect my opinions of the books, just not as polished as I'd like. Now, I need to catch up on the other months!

Enjoy!


1) The Runaway Princess by Hester Browne: B

2) Heist Society by Ally Carter: B

3) Sweet Deception by Heather Snow: D

I wasn't in the greatest mood when I read Sweet Deception, but despite everything, I feel the book was really so-so. Emma was an interesting character and Derick had an interesting background, so there was potential to Sweet Deception, but the execution left a lot to desire. I liked Emma's math mind and that she was up her "expressions" - that was endearing. At the end though, I feel there was just too much that was told instead of being shown and that was the downfall. I also feel the author could have developed the hero's story a bit more. I feel that at the end of the day, I still didn't know about him except for his anger at his parentage. Plus, the ending was a bit unbelievable and we didn't really know the villain's motives - why and what he did with the money. Oh, the "can't help themselves" romance and big misunderstanding were the nails in the coffin. Just so used :(

4) One Good Earl Deserves a Lover by Sarah MacLean: C-

I think this one might have gotten a higher grade if I had been in a better mood. However, it is what it is. The beginning of One Good Earl Deserves a Lover was very strong in my opinion. I just enjoyed the dialogues, the exchanges and how Pippa left people speechless LOL. However, once Cross decides to succumb, I kind of lost interest in the storyline. The hero has not been with a woman for six years, so why Pippa? Yes, he was attracted to her, but what was it about her? Is everyone so weak that they can't control their urges? Is it weird that I want reasons for when they behave differently? Aside from the romance, I'm pretty sure there was an intrigue, but quite frankly, I can't remember it ^_^; The only thing that stands out in my mind still is that Pippa was outraged when she found out Cross' true identity... and I can't help but wonder why. She said she did her research and I doubt that it was such a big secret. So she's not very good at it? Also, can Cross really just walk back and claim his title? Meh.

5) How to Misbehave by Ruthie Knox: C

Ms Knox is quickly becoming a favorite author on blogland, but for me, she's more hit and miss. I picked up How to Misbehave because everyone raved about it and it left me a bit lukewarm. Yes, it was hot and sexy, but the timeline just didn't work for me. I'm so tired of hook-ups and that's essentially what this story was about. The hero and heroine have been eyeing each other, attracted. Then, suddenly, they are thrown together because of bad weather, can't resist and have sex. The hero is not into commitment so walks away, the heroine is heart-broken and eat ice cream. However, the hero cannot live without her and therefore, returns and boom, let's be together. Meh. Also, there was a lot of sad stories and sequel baiting. Perhaps if it hadn't been in a novella format, it would have worked better for me. 

6) Always the Best Man by Fiona Harper: C

I was looking for a opposites attract story with my favorite theme, the stuffy shirt hero and happy-go-lucky heroine, and found it with Always the Best Man. Unfortunately, the storyline didn't hit the right not for me, mainly because it was just no fun. The reason I enjoy the stuffy shirt hero and the happy-go-lucky heroine so much is seeing how the heroine thaws out the hero, how perplex he often is in front of the heroine... and that just didn't happen in Always the Best Man. In fact, both the hero and heroine had a lot of baggage in this book and the heroine wasn't as happy-go-lucky as I thought, she just hid behind an acerbic sense of humor. Also, she wasn't as confident as I'd hope. As for the hero, he was more likable, but only because he realized at the end that his thinking was flawed. He'd put his best friend's wife as the ideal woman and figured out he was wrong. Since the title was Always the Best Man, I wished we've read a bit more of him as a best man LOL. Otherwise, I feel they lacked a bit of chemistry and wished they had worked a bit more on their issues. As such, it makes it a bit unbelievable for me that the hero would propose at the end and that the heroine would accept. Overall, not a bad book, but not impressed either.

7) Crazy Thing Called Love by Molly O'Keefe: B+

8) Hip Check by Deirdre Martin: C-

I don't know what took over me to read two hockey romances one after the other, especially since I'm not a fan of hockey ^_^; However, that's what happened and given that the premises were similar to a certain point, i.e. the hockey player hero getting guardianship of his niece, well I can't help but to compare the two books... and unfortunately, Hip Check was lacking in comparison. 

Mainly, I thought it was hard to like the hero, Esa Saari. I can understand resenting getting guardianship of his niece because he has to change his lifestyle, but he's the adult here. At one point, he needs to suck it up and just be there for his new charge, because the kid is what matters. And I don't want him to start making efforts, to change simply to please the hot nanny. I want it to come from his heart and I found that honesty missing in Hip Check. The heroine was a bit more likable. I liked that she chose to become a nanny and that she enjoyed her job, that's what she wanted to do and she was good at it. I liked Maddy's relationship with her charge. It's just too bad she let her father and brother walk over her.

Also, the romance in this one was so-so. I think the sudden attraction between Esa and Maddy was awkward, it needed a little bit more build-up. For me, it seemed that Esa suddenly realized his teammates found Maddy attractive and he decided they couldn't have her. Also, the pacing of the book with the fast-foward in timeline just didn't help the romance.

9) The Autumn Bride by Anne Gracie: B-

10) The Best Intentions by Candice Hern: B-

11) Pivot Point by Kasie West: A

12) Calculated in Death by J.D. Robb: B

***

Balance
Books bought: +6
Books read: -12
TBR pile: -6


Genres
Category Romance - 1
        -->(Contemporary - 1)
Contemporary Romance - 3
Historical Romance - 4
        -->(Regency - 4)
Romantic Suspense/Mystery - 1
Young Adult - 2
Fiction - 1

***

It doesn't look like so from the grades and number of reads, but I felt February was a hard month for me. Just because there was a period where I didn't really enjoy what I was reading :(  Luckily, the end of the month was so much better! I have to say, i don't remember much of my February month, but given how my reading year is going, I'm happy with 12 books :)

What about you? How was February?

Review: Power Play by Deirdre Martin

Pheww... Just caught up with blog hopping :P I should definitively comment during the week-end and not leave it to Monday ^_^; However, you'll understand why I haven't been blog hopping this week-end... I've been reading... Yes, a blissful week-end. I've read and read and read only :) I'm all caught up to the Dresden Files series, having read Dead Beat, Proven Guilty, White Night and Small Favor over the week-end. You know, I said that the series was getting really good from book 4, Summer Knight... but in fact, it gets really addicting from book 7, Dead Beat :P

All right, so let's get on with my review :P


Power Play by Deirdre Martin
published by Berkley in October 2008

They were acting when they met. They dated under false pretenses. But their attraction was all too real.

A leading soap opera actress, Monica Geary is good at faking it. But pretending to fall for NHL star and notorious playboy Eric Mitchell is going to be her hardest role ever. Yet she has no choice, for she desperately needs an edge in order to maintain her daytime diva status.

Eric Mitchell is a man in demand. First he was traded to save the New York Blades, and now the publicity department has loaned him out to help save Monica Geary's career. What no one knows is that one of People magazine's hottest bachelors is also a closet soap opera fan. He's had his eyes on Monica for years-and can't wait to get his arms around her.

Genre: contemporary romance, sport romance
Series: Blade series, Book #8

The Story: Eric Mitchell has just been exchanged to the New York Blades with a very well-liked player. His new teammates and the fans have not warmed up to him yet and his cocky attitude is not helping. As a result, he needs some good PR. Monica Geary is a soap opera actress who's been on the W & F for 10 years and has kind of taken her role for granted. Now that her position in the soap opera is threatened by a younger and bustier actress, Monica realizes that she's been neglecting her fans and PR. As a result, Eric and Monica are thrown together by publicist Teresa Dante and have to fake going out together.

My Opinion: I've been in the mood for sport romances lately and Ms Martin is well-known for her hockey romance novels... I wasn't much of a fan Chasing Stanley, her previous release, but I've seen some good comments and reviews for Power Play and so decided to give it a chance.

Power Play was an okay book. The basic idea of the book wasn't bad, throwing two persons who needed publicity together to increase their popularity. What didn't work however are the two main characters... Unfortunately, Eric is the typical jock where he thinks that he's God's gift and has a very cocky attitude. I don't even think he knows the "real" him anymore and that is sad ^_^; He didn't have much layers and personality in my opinion. As for Monica, I thought she was annoying. She's a soap actress and is at a status quo in her career. She has this idea that being a day-time actress is not good enough, that it's not real acting; however, she is comfortable with her career, drawing a steady paycheck and doing what she loves, acting. My problem with her is that I thought she was superficial... doing "fake" things to attract attention from journalists to keep her face out there. I guess I would have been okay if she always did it, but in this case, she's renewing her relationships with fans and public only because she feels threatened. She did allude to this, saying that she felt bad and if it was wrong, but in the end, it's still the path she chose.

Basically, I thought the two main characters were hard to relate to and not very likeable. The storyline is quite predictable as well where Monica and Eric eventually fall in love after spending time together... Monica getting kicked off of W&F because she refused to sleep with the new producer therefore losing her role to Chesty... Of course, there are some good parts to the book... I enjoyed seeing the hockey players watching the soap drama and getting very involved, LOL. I also enjoyed the W&F script which was so unprobable :P Eric's attempts to win back Monica were very sweet, but it's the whole "How come she didn't fall for it?" afterwards... I mean, are you kidding me? You really think that it's going to be enough to win her back? The last scene where Eric proposes was very nice though...

My Grade: C... Just an okay book with an okay plot, but not very likeable characters. I doubt that I'll ever read this book again :(

Review: Chasing Stanley by Deirdre Martin

Yes, I know - I promised reviews - but haven't delivered yet. Well here is one :) I'm going to try to go in reading order :P So we'll start with Chasing Stanley by Deirde Martin.

Why did I pick up Chasing Stanley? Basically, because I wanted to read a sport romance :P I've seen Ms Martin's books on the shelves quite often, but haven't read any. See, the problems with sport romance is that plots are usually very similar to one another - playboy professionals have a problem, usually, injury and learn that there's life outside of his sport. However, I was craving for a sport romance - god knows why... and so I bought Ms Martin's newest release, Chasing Stanley.

Chasing Stanley by Deirdre Martin: 3.25/5
published by Berkley Sensation in January 2007

Jason Mitchell has just been acquired to play with his dream team, the New York Blades, and is thrilled. Determined to lead his team to the series and eventually win the Stanley Cup, Jason has moved to New York with his Newfoundland dog - Stanley. Many had advised Jason to leave Stanley behind, but Stanley is Jason's dog and his love for Stanley is beyond words. However, it was one thing for Stanley to roam free and undisciplined back at home, but now in New York... Luckily for Jason, the answer to his problem comes in a person - Delilah Gould - a dog trainer who comes to Jason's rescue during one of his walk with Stanley. Of course, Jason is attracted to Delilah, but she's a complex woman and actually prefers dogs to men... Will this hockeyman be able to win her heart?

Review: I have to say I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I liked how this book was different than other sport romance - as in, Jason is not your typical mature, playboy professional sportman. Also, it seems that the focus was more on Delilah's problems than Jason's. However, I have to say the romance was bleh and there was very little chemistry between Jason and Delilah... So even if the settings were refreshing, it couldn't save the book with the love story offered.

The Characters - Let's start with Jason. As I said, he's not the typical hockeyplayer you normally see in sport romance. Yes, he's good-looking and he's probably had his shares of women, but he is not portrayed as a playboy. He doesn't act as if all the women throw themselves at him and he knows it. Instead, he's pretty normal when it comes to women... So that was the refreshing part. Also, his love and devotion to Stanley was endearing... he's definitively not conceited and arrogant like many. I liked his relationship with his twin brother Eric, who is older by 3 minutes and has already won a Stanley Cup with his New Jersey team. You can see a definitive rivalry between the two brothers, which is understandable because not only they're twins, but they've gone into the same business. My problem with Jason was his lack of maturity. I guess he's still young and sometimes, it really shows... so much that I wouldn't consider him "manly" or "alpha." Actually, in some occasions, he reminds me of a boy... Also, he's too concern with what other thinks - and this had jeopardized his relationship with Delilah a couple of time. Lastly, he did a couple of things that were totally unacceptable...

What to say about Delilah... She's not a heroine many will bond with, in my opinion. She has her shares of problems, especially self-esteem, due to her parents always quarelling. During her childhood, she seeks refuge with her dogs, training them and had turned this into a business at which she's very successful. In addition to training dogs, she also boards them. She has a good sense of responsibilities; however, she's completely socially inept. The latter being a big problem when you go out with someone who's high profile. As a whole, she left me cold... I definitively didn't bond with her...

The biggest problem of this book was probably the fact that Jason and Delilah didn't have any chemistry between them. Yes, opposite attracts each other and of course, they have some sweet moments together, but it's not enough to build a lasting relationship. I mean, they both acknowledged the fact that they weren't good together, but when apart, they missed each other. In normal circumstances, i would be happy the main couple got back together... but I just can't imagine it working out...

Other characters includes Jason's brother, Eric, his teammates, Delilah's parents and some others... nobody was really important, save Eric. Eric is more the typical sport professional you read about in sport romance... My problem with him was that he went after Delilah's father's fiancé. Yeah, so Delilah's father and his fiancé weren't the perfect match and actually, shouldn't have ever hooked up... but it's not an excuse to develop a relationship with her... talk about an awkward situation for Delilah... Oh, of course, there was also Stanley :) Liked him :D

Story & Writing - The writing was all right... the problem was more with the story. This book was more about the characters than the story, which is okay if it's well-written... but in this case, it left a lot of blanks for the author to fill with subplot which weren't really relevant to the development of Jason and Delilah's relationship. Also, in the end, I couldn't see that much change in Delilah...

The Cover - it's a cute cover :D and it fits the book :D

Am I keeping this book? Not sure... probably because I keep almost everything. However, i'm pretty sure that in a couple of years, I'll be able to part with it to make place for new books.

Anything Else? Nope. I might give a chance to other of her books, probably when I'll have nothing to read.