Hi booklovers
This is my April reading wrap up. This month was a great reading month, thanks to the Easter break :-) I read a total of 9 books.
You can click on the titles to go to the Goodreads pages.
This is the sequel to Grave Mercy. This time we get the story from Sybella's POV. We already met her in Grave Mercy. While GM was packed with political issues that could really be tedious at times, this book focuses a little less on the political stuff. I found this book to be slow at times and action packed in other parts. Especially the last part is action packed and some surprising secrets are revealed. I really liked the characters, especially the interaction between Sybella and Beast. It's also nice that Ismae and Duvall (Grave Mercy) are still part of this story. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I gave it 3.5 stars.
This is the first book in the 'Rusk University' series. I really liked Cora Carmack's Losing it series, so I wanted to give this a try. This series made sure that Cora is now one of my auto buy authors :-) I really liked this book about Dallas and Carson. I did have some problems while reading the parts about football, because I hardly understand the game :-s. On the other hand, I could really relate to Dallas' love for dancing - having taken dance lessons myself for 10 years :-). I really liked how sassy Dallas can be sometimes, she is a rather strong character with good character development. I also really like the interaction and (sexual) tension between Dallas and Carson.
This is New Adult, so beware of sexual content. I gave it 3.5 stars.
This is book 11 in the Rosemary Beach series. This is part of a massive companion series where the stories all tie together.
After You Were Mine I was really hesitant about picking this one up, because I began to find them a bit 'more of the same': SPOILERS READ AT OWN RISK boy meets girl or vice versa - something bad happens (usually an unexpected pregnancy) - they split up - they find out they can't live without one another - they get back together - they live happily ever after.
I also really don't like the covers anymore. I have the first 7 books in these 'nice' black covers with items on them. But books 8 and 9 have people on the cover and they are soooo cheesy. (I have book 10 on my e-reader since it is a free e-novella) From now on, I'm only getting them on my e-reader, because the covers are just so bad. But anyway, rant over. This story focuses on Mase - Harlow's (Take a Chance - One more Chance) brother and he is a typical cowboy, including the boots and hat. Reese - the female protagonist - got a bit on my nerves because she could be so naive at times.
I have to admit I rather enjoyed the story. Just don't go in expecting high quality literature. It's cheesy at times, full of clichés, but still addicting nonetheless. There's something about these stories that keeps drawing me back in, although some parts make me cringe. I'm going to give the next one in the series, 'When You're Back', a go - it comes out June 30th. There are still more books to come in this series but it'll really depend on the next one whether or not I will pick them up. I gave this one 3 stars.
I do recommend you read the books in order, because they contain major spoilers for the other books. You can find the reading order here.
4) All Broke Down by Cora Carmack.
This is the second part of the 'Rusk Univesity series' and this
time we get Silas' story. At first I didn't think I would like
Silas because of what happened in All Lined Up, but that soon changed.
He is such a loveable character and so is Dylan, the female protagonist. In this story the focus
isn't so much on actual football games, so it wasn't as confusing for
me to read as the first one. (It still revolves around football and college, but it was
looked at from 'the outside'.) Maybe I should read up on American football so that it's not so confusing anymore :-)
This story is a bit heavier on the sex
scenes, but it's still not too overwhelming.
Like All Lined Up I read this one in almost one sitting and I can't wait for the third one in the series to come out. I also gave this one 3.5 stars.
5) Making Faces by Amy Harmon.
This one was a bit of a disappointment. I went into this with really high hopes because of April's NA recommend video. She was raving about this book so much that I really wanted to read it. The premise of the story is good, but I didn't think it was that well executed. I found the story to be very slow at times. I was actually more moved by Bailey's part of the story than I was by Ambrose's, which is supposed to be the main plot line. I gave it 3 stars.
6) Addicted to you by Becca & Krista Richie.
This is the best book I've read so far this year. I have a non-spoiler review on my blog, if you want you can check it out. This is NA, so beware!
This is the first book I've rated 4.5 stars this year.
7) Ricochet by Becca & Krista Richie.
This is the sequel to Addicted to you. It's actually an in-between novel that links Addicted to you to Addicted for now. I really enjoyed this. It gives you a good insight in the processes that both Lily and Lo have to go through. But not just that, you also take a look at their past, which helps you to better understand some of their actions and decisions in the first book. I'm not going to say anything else because I don't want to spoil you. I gave this book 4 stars. I'm dying to continue this series, but I want to pace myself, because I want to make this series last as long as possible. Fortunately, the authors assured me that the books get chunkier as they go along, so YAY for chunkier books :-)
8) Encounters by Bre Faucheux.
Since this is the third part in 'The Elder Origins' series I'm not going to say too much about it because I don't want to spoil it for you. What I can say is that I really enjoyed this story. I have to be honest that it was a bit confusing at times, but in the end all the information clicked into place. The characters develop even further, which I really enjoyed. As with the previous two parts, this is a good combination of historical elements with fantasy ones. And I'm so happy the vampires - or vampyrs - don't sparkle while walking in the sun!! I can't wait for Bre to publish the 4th part of the story. I gave this 4 stars.
9) From the first sight (2) by Gwendalyn Fox.
This is the second part in Lexi's story. I have come to enjoy these stories very much because they are quick but very addicting reads. I think Lexi is the most complicated character in these companion novella's and I really feel for her and the struggle she is going through. Can't wait for the next one because this one ended on a major cliffhanger :-)
Remember, this is erotica, so it's heavy on the sex scenes. I haven't rated this yet, but I'm thinking of giving it 3.5 to 4 stars.
I think we can safely say that April has been an NA month :-) Maybe this is because Spring invites me to read more 'lighthearted' things. What genres do you prefer to read during Spring? Also let me know in the comments which books you've read in April and what you thought of them.
Bye for now
Annelies
