I have gone onto a reading binge and knocked out quite a few books I had gotten some time ago. I've read over 40 different titles in 2017. Some are short stories, but mainly they are full length books. Between all the reading, I've been doing other things. Such as gaming, crafting a bit, watching tv, and of course working.
So about a month ago, an author by the name of Kitty Thomas gave me the opportunity to read an ARC of her newest book Surrender with the request I leave a review on Amazon when it went live. Now this is the third book in one of her book worlds that I really like. The books are stand alone and some familiar characters make appearances. Other than that, they can be read in any order. I personally loved her book Broken Dolls and her main male lead Brian. So being able to read this book filled me with joy.
So I get the ARC and I read it quickly and with minor interruption. One I had to get dinner, hello Taco Bell, and two I had to take care of pets, and three I was chatting with the author. There were also a few times I laughed at weird places and even threw in a Russian accent to the characters that were Russian. Normally, I don't assign accents to characters due to reading everything silently and in my head. But I did.
By the end, I was on a Kitty Thomas reading binge. I had her entire catalog on my Kindle, but I hadn't read most of them. A few were partially read. So I read the rest of her books in less than a week. I should have been curled into a ball questioning my sanity, but nope, I powered though and was relieved that I accomplished the goal.
Kitty's books are a bit on the darker side, but to me the ending all work and they might not be the normal HEA that most would go for, but they make sense to the books and they conclude well. So the books I read were of course Surrender, then Guilty Pleasure, The Con Artist, Mafia Captive, Big Sky, Tender Mercies, Dark Night of the Soul, Blood Mate, The Last Girl, and Submissive Fairy Tales.
I finished Reaper's Fall by Janna Wylde and read her shorter novella Shade's Lady. I really like the Reaper's stories. The men aren't perfect and the women have backbones and humor.
Due to Kitty Thomas, I picked up a book from Anna Zaires called Tormentor Mine and read though it pretty quick. This was another darker romance. A hitman that falls for a woman he tormented to get to her husband only to stalk her and make her his. Sounded fantastic. It is too, plus there will be more of the story, because it ended with a "cliffhanger." Not the type of cliffhanger which makes you scream WTF what happened, but more like a there will be another book to explore this relationship and life. Totally worth picking up. Soon I will read whatever else I have by her on my Kindle, though I have other books to binge on first.
Another favorite author of mine is Kallypso Masters. She writes romance with a BDSM theme. Recently, she released the novel Jesse's Hideout. It's a sweet romance novel with a few meddling ghosts. Due to this book, I now want to try fruitcake, hot buttered rum, and oatmeal raisin cookies with Chinese 5 spice in them, (Books with food usually make me crave said food. It's a curse, plus Kristen Ashley's books do it to me the most.) Kallypso's work has a lot of fantastic description and brings you into the story.
Speaking of Kristen Ashley, I binged on her books Creed, Raid. and Deacon. I'd read the first book some time ago and I don't have the last book as of yet. All were good, but I think I really loved Deacon the most.
The follow up to Candy Boys was Dirty Princes by Jo Raven. I needed a lighter romance with some smiles so I read this one since I laughed so much with Candy. While it still had comedy, it wasn't as much as candy. I like it even if I wanted to smack one of the characters and give him the stick eye. All part of the story though and I got the ending I wanted so it's all good.
I was in an MC romance kind of mood so I read Nicole Snow's Never Have an Outlaw's Baby. There was lots of sex and drama in this book. Is there any other kind of fun in a book?
Then, a book I've been waiting a year for finally released. Twist by Kylie Scott. Joe and Alex are fantastic. Joe is a man's man and he's super sweet. Though he does have his I'm a man and oblivious moments. I've read the Stage Dive series and the first book of this series and would recommend them all. Now I have to wait another year for book 3. *pouts* Follow her on Facebook and watch the shenanigans ensure between her and Joanna Wylde.
I started reading Scott Hildreth's Selected Sinners MC books. I've read the fist two books, Making the Cut and Taking the Heat. Both of which are gritty and something else like everything else I've read, but I have the rest of the series on the kindle, waiting and watching from the carousel whenever I pop in. I love the journeys he puts his characters through. Rigid was another book I binged because I was waiting for it. There were all the emotions in it. Now I'm looking forward to the next book about P-Nut. He's a bit of a nut, but he seems to be a lovable nut.
The book I actually finished last was from an author I discovered at the release day Facebook party of Rigid. Straight No Chaser by Nikki Belaire was good. Lately, a lot of the books I've been reading in the 1st person POV has a duel POV, but not this one. It's in Luc's POV the entire time. He's a mafia boss who's in love with his little brother's nanny and will stop at nothing to make her his. The only issue I really had with the book were when scenes would change and I had no idea it happened. To be fair, I've seen the issue in another book I'm reading as well. It pulls me from the story because I didn't realize what was going on. Other than that tiny thing, I'm happy I met and read a new author. Looking forward to reading her other books I also have on the Kindle.
I think there are something like 7000 files of books on the thing. Not sure how that's even possible, but it is. Books for a lifetime. This post is a bit longer due to the mass amount of books I read in the two months I haven't posted. I have several more I'm almost done with. If I reviewed each book on here, it would take forever. I've read Quickies with Eddie short stories as well. Those are by Eddie Cleveland and are good. (Must be signed up to his newsletter to get them.)
That's all I've got now. Back to crafting and reading. Plus I need to shop for a new coffee maker. Mine died and I was lucky enough to have a percolator that still works in the cabinets. It certainly works, but I like the drip coffee makers too. Though I wouldn't mind being able to make the special yummy drinks too. Can't wait to see the options available to me now.
Happy reading!
