I am entering the next phase of getting my new life together! I have so much to do now, but it's exciting! I can't wait until it's all done and ready.
If you all haven't watched The One and Only Ivan yet, you need to. It's so cute and made me cry a lot. Disney totally broke me with one scene in this one...
Touch
of the Wolf had me a bit nervous in the beginning because I wasn't sure
if what I was reading was stereotypes or realities. So I did some
research. The author is, in fact, a white woman who has a passion for
Native American history due to her love of nature. Okay then. That
caused me to lean more toward the uncomfortable end of the spectrum,
even though it sounds like she probably had done some research. I don't
know though. I just know that Jay's brother is an alcoholic and his
uncle wears feathers in his hair and communes with eagles. And there's
this overarching theme of the "uncooperative Native" since none of the
Hoh people wanted anthropologists stomping all over their land. I'm not
Native American, so I can't actually speak on any of this, but it all
seemed questionable.
What I can comment on is that Jay's
brother's alcoholism did wind up being used a plot devise. Winter's
professor who was murdered while studying the land admits to hoping to
find a Native with a weakness he could exploit. Well, that was Floyd,
who he bribed with alcohol to get information and ancient relics. That
is disgusting. It's certainly portrayed as being an awful thing to do,
but I could have done without that part entirely.
Also, Touch of
the Wolf is not the Paranormal Romance that it's marketed to me. There
was a brief moment that was reminiscent of The Mask. Winter receives the
illegal, ancient artifact, which is a wolf mask. She promptly puts it
on, and whoa. Visions and she hears a wolf cry (to the blue corn moon),
and then Jay tells her about Wolf. Wolf is totally real and a spirit in
the forest. That is not paranormal. Kissing in the forest where a spirit
wolf lives does not equal Paranormal Romance. It's just a poorly done
Contemporary Romance that attempts to use Native American culture.
Clearly,
I did not enjoy Touch of the Wolf at all. Even the big reveal at the
end irritated me. The villain spent three chapters monologuing a
non-explanation for the murders, which gave the rescue party plenty of
time to arrive. On top of what I already discussed, the romance was
boring and the sex was cringe-worthy. I don't think "her sex juices
bathed his penis" is sexy in the slightest. It sounds messy. Like the
rest of this book.
Reforming
the Cowboy is another "reforming" Romance where there is no reforming.
Billy is a washed-up Country singer who's been out of the spotlight for a
decade. He's trying to make a comeback, and his first bit of exposure
is a weekend gig for the grand opening of Lacey's Cafe. The owner,
Lacey, had a crush on Billy when he was still touring, so needless to
say, she's quite happy to meet him. Of course, the two start up a
whirlwind romance, but when Billy starts getting more opportunities, can
they make it work?
One of my least favorite Romance endings is
when someone gives up their dream in order to be in the relationship.
Reforming the Cowboy almost has this moment, but I was still annoyed
because Lacey was more than willing to do it! She spends nearly 200
pages saying how her cafe is her dream and her life and she's going to
make it work. But after a week she's ready to move out of state to be
with Billy when he says that they don't have to be long-distance? I
don't think so! Luckily, the man had a plan that did not involve her
closing up her week-old business.
I knew Reforming the Cowboy
wasn't going to be my jam, but for different reasons. I actually enjoyed
most of it, but toward the end, Lacey just drove me bananas. I had
actually been pleasantly surprised at how normal their relationship was
going, and then it all went down hill when Lacey purposely
misinterpreted Billy's lyrics, didn't even listen to the entire song,
and chose to listen to his clearly jealously unhinged ex-girlfriend. All
before being too willing to give up her dream for him. Sorry, but no.
For
being a Paranormal Romance, Operation Saving Daniel was pretty light on
the "paranormal." I mean, Daniel is a werewolf and the ultimate
showdown was between him and his pack leader. But most of the build up
was Lissa trying to seduce him away from his awful fiancee, and Daniel
pretending to be this emotionless robot.
Ten years ago, Lissa and
Daniel had one special night together before she ran off. Now, she's
back and hopes to get him out of her system for good. I'm not sure how
seeing him again after so long is suppose to accomplish that, but okay.
The man she finds is certainly not the same one she left a decade ago,
but she can tell that something about him isn't right. Meanwhile, Daniel
is caught in an engagement of convenience (or so he says) with an awful
woman, but he really has no say in the matter if he wants his sisters
to live. Of course, all of this is backed by the fact that Daniel and
his fake fiancee are werewolves, but the plot could have been exactly
the same if they were human.
Once the paranormal elements of
Operation Saving Daniel kicked in, it was nearly over. All of the
excitement in crammed into the last quarter-or-so, and one of the big
bad wolves is killed off the page! That was majorly unsatisfying. At
least Lissa and Daniel got their happily ever after...
My state is on fire, just like every year around this time. But this time it started with LIGHTNING! 100+ degree weather, plus lightning, plus wind, is not a good combination. We've been stuck indoors because it's just smoke and ash out there.
Last week was also #BoutOfBooks! Well, today is the last day, but it's been fun. I'll finish my sixth book today, which is one short of my goal. That's okay though, since I also completed a beta read and did some studying.
I liked The
Cinderella Seduction. I'm always up for an underdog coming out on top,
especially when that's a plump woman stepping into her confidence and
getting her man. Which is exactly what Stefani does. Nick is a reformed
playboy who's just trying to do right by his young daughter, which means
no more dating around. He needs a stable relationship. Of course, there
has to be a fight because Nick finds out that Stefani was plotting to
seduce him. But being the gentleman that he is, he does check in on her
rather than disappearing for a length a time before returning.
The
Cinderella Seduction was short and sweet. A bit too sweet and
family-oriented for my liking, but still an enjoyable read. I just wish
there had been more food since Stefani is a chef.
The
Cinderella Makeover was giving me The Swan flashbacks. Anyone remember
that horrible show? Well, the show in this book wasn't as extreme, but
the main them was still there: you're ugly and unlovable without the
proper makeover! Greg is known as the "camera-shy CEO" but then he signs
up for this reality show where he'll receive a makeover and win a
chance at love. One of the coaches is Francesca, who failed to get his
photo for a magazine spread, so she's a bit miffed at having to work
with him again. But then a bet with a rival coach drives them closer
together.
The Cinderella Makeover was definitely better than its
predecessor, but still not great. Greg and Francesca are certainly more
likeable, and the only part that really got on my nerves was the
inevitable fight near the end. It was cute to see Francesca help Greg
come out of his shell to help him win the competition (and her wager).
He's a classic geek to chic fairy tale! But when he finds out about the
bet, he understandable doesn't take it well. However, the bet was that
he would WIN. Francesca was helping him WIN. He wanted to WIN. She
wanted to WIN. What's the problem. He claims it's because she lied to
him, but she didn't. It was just drama for the sake of drama.
In the end, The Cinderella Makeover was quick and cute. Nothing special or particularly memorable.
Operation Cinderella simply rubbed me the wrong way. It's an opposites attract, nemesis to lovers Romance. Although Ross doesn't know that they're opposites or nemeses, since Macie is undercover to write an expose on him for her magazine after he trashed one of her articles. He's ultra conservative and has some serious issues with teenage sex, and teenage girls in general, so he wants a live-in housekeeper/nanny for his daughter who will uphold his old school values. Macie is anything but old school, but she fakes it to get into his life. Needless to say, her plan fails and they fall in love and live happily every after.
My main issue with Operation Cinderella was Ross himself, and not just because he's a Republican--he actually wins a Republican of the year award, ew. He hires a woman to be a role model for his fifteen year old daughter. As far as I could tell, the only thing the girl did wrong was wear too much makeup, have a few piercings, and wear ripped jeans. Otherwise, she's a normal teenage girl. Later into things, Ross is lamenting about being an awful father because he forgot to pick her up and she wound up in a car accident. Then five minutes later he whisks Macie away to have sex because his daughter probably isn't going to wake up anytime soon. THEN, Macie reveals her issues with sex, and his response is basically that she just hasn't had sex with him (and it works). Gross.
This week has been #galleyathon! I've knocked out eight ARCs from 2013. Yep, I still have those. In fact, all of my outstanding Netgalley ARCs are from 2013-14, so it has felt good to finally get rid of them.
Other than that, I've spent the week working on my secret project. It's continuing to go very well. But I'm not having any luck with getting more beta reads. I've certainly had authors contact me, and then they back out once they get the invoice. It's not a secret that I charge. This is my job. I'm upfront about it, so it's very frustrating. I know it'll turn around though. I do have one lined up with an author I've worked with before, so that's exciting!
Two months until my birthday! Not that I'll be doing anything, just like everyone else who's had a birthday since March...
Every time I sat Temptation by Fire down and picked it back up, I had forgotten what I had read. Nothing would stick. I just was not interested in these characters. Karson was pretty flat for me. All he wanted to do was exorcise demons and kill the one that murdered his entire family. And have sex with Ava.
Ava was just all over the place. First she sees a man die by fire and warns Karson since he was with the man at the time. Karson explains that what she saw was a demon, but she gets it into her dead that Karson is the demon when she walks in on him trying to expel the demon from the man's body. But then she wants to help, so she goes on an "undercover" date with the demon and then freaks out because something is "off" about him. No duh! He's a demon! I was so frustrated with her!
Of course, in the end, good triumphs over evil. I couldn't begin to explain to you how Ava and Karson beat the demons, because like I said, it's totally forgettable it. I can tell you that Temptation by Fire does have the requisite happy ending though. I just didn't care.
I haven't reviewed every book I've read, even ones that I loved. So here are ten books that I loved, but never reviewed...
This week I mostly just continued to work on my secret project. There have been some ups and downs, but I just keep swimming! It'll all be worth it.
Like I predicted, my library closed again. I expected it, and it's probably for the best, but I'm still sad. It was nice to look forward to something every week.
Lots more books! But that's likely it for now. I have plenty of things to read, and plenty of nonreading activities to take care of over the next several weeks.
