June has not involved quite as much reading published books as normal. Instead, I have re-read two of my favorite absurdly long fanfics (including The Debt of Time) and eight books. On second thought, maybe that is a lot. Whatever. Anyways, let’s hop to it.
1. Archangel’s Viperby Nalini Singh
Hello, yes, I am caught up on the Guild Hunters series and now I don’t know how to handle my life. Jk, I’ve started the Psy-Changling series so… More Nalini Singh always.
Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I haven’t ever been intrigued by Venom the way that I was/am by most (all?) of the other members of the Seven. That said, I wound up really enjoying Venom and I absolutely adore Holly. She’s an excellent heroine.
2. Slave to Sensationby Nalini Singh
So, I think I prefer the Guild Hunters series to the Psy-Changling series, but I’m not sure how much that’s due to my preference to the narrator who does thee Guild Hunters series. I’m really not sure. That said, this series involves a race that has been taught to not feel emotions and the changling race, which is to say shifters. The hero in this book is a panther, but there are other shifters mentioned, including the wolves. Sasha Duncan is a darling (lol, she winds up being called Sasha Darling all the time, but it fits, okay?) and I adored her. She feels like she must be going insane because she can’t stop experiencing emotions and having these vivid dreams, that aren’t actually dreams… Yeah, I really did enjoy this one. But it’s Nalini Singh so who is surprised?
3. Tempt Me at Twilightby Lisa Kleypas
When the Ripped Bodice announced the BINGO card for summer BINGO and I realized Tempt Me at Twilight had a hero named Harry, I was very excited for this re-read. And after re-reading, I am of the opinion that I should not adore this book as much as I do, but oh my goodness, I love it. Harry is the kind of romance hero where if he existed in real life, I would be legitimately irate and would never forgive him for his actions. Inexplicably, this entire book works for me. I don’t even know, y’all. On the bright side, I’m done with one of the squares!
CW: Slur for the Romani people used throughout the Hathaway series as two of the cast of characters are Romani
4. Love in the Afternoonby Lisa Kleypas
After re-reading Tempt Me, I just had to re-read Love in the Afternoon because I completely adore Beatrix. She’s probably one of my favorite romance heroines of all time. I just… I love her so much, you know? She just wants to live her life with all of her animals and whoops, she accidentally fell in love with this man she’s talking to while he thinks that she’s someone else. And oh yeah, he doesn’t have a particularly high opinion of her as herself. OOPS. What a trip. I love it so much.
5. Rock Redemptionby Nalini Singh
How much Nalini Singh can a person read in one year? Here’s hoping the answer is her entire backlist, plus re-reads of Rock Hard and maybe Cherish Hard because I have all the feelings about her books.
Anyway, I really enjoyed Rock Redemption. I felt like the HEA for Kit and Noah was hard as hell to get to and the pay off felt right and glorious. Also, Kit’s love for Noah doesn’t magically fix him, but she does notice things that seem to help him and starts providing those. There’s also talk of how Noah should go to therapy, but he refuses to that is done in a way that didn’t feel anti-therapy to me. Others could definitely disagree though.
CW: Stalking, child abuse, sexual abuse
6. Magic Bites by Kate Daniels
I probably started this book a half-dozen times before I pushed through an d made it far enough that I was interested enough to keep reading without making myself. That said, even once I finished the book, I was still super confused by everything, including but not limited to the world, the characters, what was happening in the first book… You get the idea. So this is definitely not anywhere close to as much my thing as The Hidden Legacy is, but I’m hoping if I read a couple more books I’ll start to get it and will enjoy it more.
7. A Match Made in Bedby Cathy Maxwell
Three stars feels generous for this book where the hero says he married his first wife because she was the most exotic woman he’d ever met (she was a First Nations woman) and confesses that if his new wife had said stop, he wasn’t sure he could. Not to mention, it felt a little White Savior trope-y. That is what I gave the book, but I also think this marks the point at which I part ways with Cathy Maxwell. I think her books just aren’t meant for me.
8. A Scandalous Dealby Joanna Shupe
I adore Joanna Shupe’s writing and this book was no exception. This book is about Lady Eva Hyde, who has been sort of pretending to be her father in order to keep this architect design deal for this hotel in New York City. Her dad is very ill and, whoops, she hooked up with the owner of the hotel on the boat crossing. While it maybe has a little element of not like other girls, I found the book delightful and compulsively readable. I did not want to put it down. I do, however, despise this cover. The couple looks so awkward at that angle? Like… Why this cover, honestly?
There you have it! The books I read in the first half of June. I think my favorite so far this month was probably my re-read of Love in the Afternoon, honestly. The amount I adore Beatrix is hard to top. What about you?
xx
firewhiskeyreader 