AT LAST... APRIL READS

As you know I had a wonderful reading weekend LAST weekend. Even so I didn't think I'd read that much in April. Turns out I read 18 books. Wow! Who knew?

OUTLAW'S BRIDE by Maureen McKade. This was a good solid western, but not an exceptional read like I've come to expect from Ms. McKade. Another one bites the dust from ye olde tbr.

COUGAR'S CAPTIVE by Vonna Harper. A Loose-Id release. My grade was 'meh' and frankly aside from remembering it as a sort of a fantasy read I don't remember much about it.

GRIMSPACE by Ann Aguirre. I reviewed this one. It's futuristic, first person and I liked it.

GETTING RID OF BRADLEY by Jennifer Crusie. I'm listing this as a re-read because I have it on my keeper shelf. This was very entertaining and I have no idea why I didn't remember it except the book on my keeper shelf is from the original from 1994. I guess 14 years can leave the details a little vague. However, if you are looking for a few laughs about a woman, a divorce, a dye job gone wrong and a sexy cop with an attitude problem then you should read this book. . Oh, and did I mention 'dead dog' ? Very cute and funny. Oh, and a bonus for all you Crusie fans. It's Jennifer Crusie month over at Book Binge. Go check it out.

DEMON'S FIRE by Emma Holly. This is the third full book set in Holly's quasi-Victorian England and futuristic/fantasy demon world. This story involves a menage. Normally this is something Holly does well, but I felt the 'couple' was a little young in this one. This just didn't capture my attention as the earlier books in this world did.

RIDE THE FIRE by Pamela Clare. This was a very good frontier saga. The genuine historical feel and details about everyday life added an excellent backdrop to the story without being tedious. This is the third in the Kenleigh/Blakewell series. I read this out of order and without reading the previous two books and had no problem.

HUNTER:SALVATION by Shiloh Walker. This is another book I enjoyed and reviewed in April.

FALLEN STAR by Morgan Hawke. This is a part of her space series. Ms. Hawke's books are not for the faint hearted but this erotic other world she's created fascinates me. Her world building is very layered and detailed, something I think that just adds to the story. This was a re-read. A side note: as far as I know this is only available as an e-book. I read the copy I have had for some time, but I think it's still available from Extasy Books.

WILD FRONTIER by Sienna Black. Another Loose-Id release. Last month it was EC this month Loose-Id for my erotic fix. This was a DNF for me.

SHIFTER anthology by Angela Knight, Lora Leigh, Alyssa Day and Virginia Kantra. Surprisingly I liked the Angela Knight and the Lora Leigh breed story pretty well. Anthologies have been a bit of a bust for me lately so that was a happy surprise. I've enjoyed other books by Ms. Kantra but gave the story a pass because it had 'sea' in the title. I made the leap mer-people were involved which happens to be yet another category of romance that doesn't float my boat. My apologies to she and Ms. Day since I only read half of this book I cannot really comment on their stories.

MARRIAGE BED by Claudia Dain. This is from the tbr too. She's an heiress promised to his brother. He's a monk. Sort of. Prior to taking his final vows the brother dies and she goes to the abbey to marry him. He's a bit of a knot head about things, meaning it took longer than it should have for him to see the light. All in all though this was an entertaining historical.

BEAU CRUSOE by Carla Kelly. I enjoyed this one very much. It was also from my tbr. In case you missed it you can go here and read my review. I'm sold on Carla Kelly and I'm going to be looking for her back list.

SEALed WITH A KISS by Mary Margret Daughtridge. I can't believe my good fortune in winning this one. I was going to give it a try after reading Holly's review and then won a copy at Book Binge. I reviewed it with Beau Crusoe. Here's the link again.

LAST WOLF HUNTING by Rhyannon Byrd. This is the 2nd book in her Blood Runner series. This is a category romance and part of the Silhouette Nocturne line. The Blood Runner trilogy has been published in three successive months, March, April and May 2008. There's not a lot of depth here but the story premise interested me and I did buy (and read) the third book this past weekend. If I was grading them I'd probably give them a 'C' overall. Oh and FYI, the Blood Runners are a mixed breed were wolf that hunts the rogue weres gone bad.

FIRE & ICE by Anne Stuart. I was anxious to read this after reading the excerpt and realizing that these were two secondary characters from previous 'Ice' books getting their own story. This is Reno and Jilly's book for those of you who have been following the series. Reno is the younger cousin of Tak in ICE BLUE and Jilly is Summer's (also ICE BLUE) younger sister. As I mentioned when I talked about ICE BLUE I'm partial to the books because the Japanese culture is one that fascinates me. I lived in Japan for three years from ages 11-13 and absolutely loved it there. This story takes place entirely in Japan and that combined with Ms. Stuart's inimitable style, I enjoyed the book very much.

NIGHTCAP by Kathleen O'Reilly. The final in the O'Sullivan Brothers trilogy and a May Harlequin Blaze I was able to pick up early. This was a decent contemporary romance with two very strong characters, but I think the second book of the trilogy will always be my favorite. While Sean and Cleo are strong, smart, and savy I don't think they were always very likable.

DARK NEEDS AT NIGHTS EDGE by Kresley Cole. This one I did a buddy review with Nath over at Breezing Through.

ICON by Louisa Trent. Another Loose-Id release. I've enjoyed many of Ms. Trent's more contemporary e-books and her historicals. This on was difficult to get into and is a sort of erotic fantasy. It was only okay for me.

There 'tis. April's reads. Whew! One more thing off my 'To Do' list. Now to catch up on everything else...