Saturday, August 4, 2018

Whatcha Reading? (August 4th)




Romancelandia News:





The RITA scores came back this week and many marginalized authors were not at all surprised by their results. In fact, many queer romances and poly-am romances were marked by some judges as "not a romance" (even though I can guarantee you those same judges would have marked the slave/slave owner and Nazi/Jew books as "great romances, A+!!"). Oh, we see you, white cishet women, we see you.

Now, there was a lot of discussion about this on Twitter. And to be fair, RWA does have new rules and consequences in place for next year's RITAs so this doesn't happen. They also asked that any author who felt they were given the "not a romance" score this year can submit a form telling the RWA board that, so they can look at it and use the findings to help with next year.

Yes, things are improving, slowly, at RWA. But we've still got a long fucking way to go, in the community, the genre, and the industry. This is not the end.




Want to see a quick recap of my July reads? Check out this thread!







What I Read:


Duke I Tempted by Scarlett Peckham
3 Stars

✦ Tortured hero (Duke, duh) who craves submission and whippings, etc
✦ Independent heroine, botanist with big dreams
✦ Marriage of convenience
✦ I admit, I was left wanting/expecting more from this one -- uneven pacing, I felt like things only just started, literally, when the book ended.

Honestly? Jen, Kat, and I have been having a little chat about this and we were all disappointed, with some "Uhhhh, can we not?" reactions thrown in, too.


Find all the quotes I shared HERE






Whiskey Sharp: Unraveled by Lauren Dane
Narrated by Simone Lewis
3 1/2 Stars


✦ Boss/employee romance
✦ He owns a hipster barber shop / whiskey bar
     ✦ Russian hero
✦ She’s also a drummer in a small punk rock band for fun
     ✦ And has piercings and some tatts
✦ Easy read, nothing much to say about it but I liked it and I definitely want to know about Maybe's sister, Rachel, who is going to fall for Vicktor and I cannot WAIT (her book is already out, btw).
     ✦ You can find Jen's review for this one HERE


Favorite quote *shivers* ;)

He sat in the chair at her old desk. Bounced a little and once he was satisfied it didn't make noise, he motioned her his way with a soft call of her name. 
"Fuck me here in the darkness. Me and you and the silence that only comes with snow."






If the Dress Fits by Carla de Guzman
3 Stars

✦ 1st POV, heroine only
✦ Fat heroine; she’s an accountant
✦ Friends to lovers
✦ He’s a vet
✦ Set in Manila, part of the #romanceclass books [own voices]
✦ I wanted to like this one more but I was kinda disappointed by it all :/
✦ The romance -- which . . . isn't really much of a romance at all -- is more like 2 stars
✦ Part of it was my own problems; I'm not in the right mindset to read about a heroine who is so self-deprecating about her body and very insecure at times. NOTE: It's totally reasonable for such a heroine to exist! And god knows I have my moments of it. But because of that, reading her struggles and views on herself, as well as everyone else's views on her body, was hard for me to do right now.


Find all the quotes I shared HERE


Kindle -- KU Title




One Night with the Army Doc by Traci Douglass
4 Stars


✦ Former Army medic now Dr. in Alaska
✦ She’s a doc as well, has a TV show
     ✦ “Never good enough” and ow, I felt her pain ☹
          ✦ Her father is a Big Time Doctor with one hell of a fucking ego and no matter what she does she never meets his expectations. He was a dick.
     ✦ When she's really nervous, she'll start spouting random facts, which was kinda fun and cute
✦ They meet when she goes to Alaska to diagnose a patient -- his friend and former Army buddy
✦ Easy read, simple story done well. I enjoyed it! Would definitely read more from Douglass
✦ Slow burn, BTW

Favorite quote:

"Love makes people human. And unconditional love makes them exceptional."






Joy to the Earl by Nicola Davidson
3 1/2 Stars
Out Wed (08/08) -- previously was in a box set that's no longer available

✦ Carpenter who is actually the son of an Earl (he has a limp, which is mostly why his horrible family got rid of him as a toddler -- except now he's the last living heir and the mother 'needs' him)
     ✦ Virgin hero!
✦ Widow who is basically a sex therapist (though she hasn't known orgasms until now, ironic enough)
     ✦ She's also a single mom to a young girl
✦ Oops the aunt left out her "horny powder" and all the adults ended up, ah, having to leave the party to take care of things 😉
✦ Quite a sexy, quick novella -- first time reading Nicola but it won't be my last!


Find all the quotes I shared HERE

Kindle -- KU Title






Currently Listening To:


Shadow's Claim by Kresley Cole



✦ Fated Mates + Alpha hero (also, huge age gap)
✦ She’s half demon, half sorcerer 
✦ He’s a special kind of vampire
✦ Battle for her hand / her kingdom



I love this series -- and it's great on audio (Robert Petrov has such a sexy voice for the heroes). But I admit, this particular story isn't my favorite and I'm kinda meh about it. I think it's because my favorites tend to have more of a focus on the larger series plot and also have a heroine who is more even in power and general knowledge as the hero, and that's just not this heroine.




Currently Reading:


Second Chance by Jay Northcote




✦ Trans hero returns home with his daughter in tow
✦ Reunites with his old HS friend / crush
✦ Who is home again battling his own demons (alcoholism)


This was in KU when I borrowed it last month but it looks like it's been taken out of the program now. Which means it will probably go up on other retailers soon? This is my first time with this author and I am excited.










So what are YOU currently reading? 



Enjoy!



Until Next Time,










No comments :