Gracie

• Rated 0 stars

“Read this a long time ago, but don't remember much about it except I enjoyed it. ”

Gracie wrote this review 6 days ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“Gracie C .McKeever (c) October 2009

Shawna Mitchell is the widowed mother of three and has been raising her kids alone for the last eight years. She's been without her kids' father so long her youngest girl Toni has never known her father. Shawna has to put up with not only her friends and neighbors trying to hook her up, but Toni, who misses not having a father and is always getting nice looking men to push her on the swing in the park hoping her mother will meet and like them.

At thrity-eight Shawna has pretty much given up on having a man in her life, especially since she has three kids. Men run the other way from a woman with children. Not to mention, as her friends say, Shawna is just plain picky. She doesn't think she's being picky. She just doesn't want to settle for less than she had with Rodney.

Recently widowed Joe Murphy is at the end of his rope with his three kids. The entire family is still in mourning since his wife Cheryl died from a long bout with breast cancer. His daughter Rose is near unrecognizable to him, retreating in a world of Goth clothes and behavior. Joe can't count the number of times he's been to school for his youngest son Jimmy. And Joey, he's just quiet and shy and even more so since the death of his mother.

Joe reaches out on a network for those dealing with grief and loss and to his surprise, someone answers his pleas for help. That someone is Shawna Mitchell.

Shawna and Joe converse online for weeks, Shawna sharing her hardwon parenting knowledge with Joe whenever he asks for it, and slowly coming to see Joe as HER lifeline as much as he sees her as his. She looks forward to his e-mails more than he can ever know. And after a series of events reveals to her that she and Joe might live no more than a few blocks from each other, Shawna decides it's time for them to really "meet".

I loved this book. J.J. creates wonderful, heartfelt characters that the reader can really relate to, no matter her color or cultural background. Joe and Shawna and their brood made me laugh cry and just wish I could spend more time with them by the time I sped through the pages to the end. The story was realistic and sweet, without being maudlin and made me feel good about the world when it was done--exactly what escapism entertainment is supposed to do.

I highly recommend this book for anyone in the mood for a positive and uplifting read and an inspirational-without-being-too-preachy, IR romance. ”

Gracie wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 4 stars

“Another book I read a long, long time ago. I specifically remember a firebug/pyromaniac that was a friend to the teenage, drug-running protagonist and other vivid scenes come to mind. If I remember correctly, it was a Romeo and Juliet type plot with the boy from the wrong side of the tracks who meets a girl who's not and who makes him want to be a better person and leave the street life. I was originally drawn to it because of the setting (South Bronx [g]) and enjoyed it because of the characters and the story.”

Gracie wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

• Rated 0 stars

“Read this one a long time ago and don't remember much about it so can't say whether I enjoyed it or not.”

Gracie wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 3 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) October 2009

Fang Kattalakis is a wolf with his roots sowed deep in the Omegrion, the ruling body that enforces the laws of the Were-Hunters. War is simmering between the lycanthropes--the Katagaria wolfweres and the Arcardian werewolves--and the Peltier family of bears and Sentinels who provide sanctuary to all are right in the middle of the fray having amassed enemies on all sides over the centuries of Sanctuary's existence.

One evening when Fang and his brothers go to Sanctuary for a night on the town, Fang is dragged into the war by the throat when the Peltier bears' only daughter is threatened by a jackal on the hunt and one who has broken the first rule of Sanctuary to threaten one of the Peltier's own.

Since it is not in Fang or his brothers to sit by and watch a female being threatened without doing something, Fang steps in and saves the life of Aimee Peltier. He makes life-long friends of the Peltiers and more enemies than he cares to count in the bargan. But saving Aimee and gaining her attention is worth it all, until he realizes the cost could be his family and his life and that being with Aimee is an impossibility no matter how much he cares for her.

But Aimee has something to say about their pairing and her body as well as her heart is drawn to Fang no matter how wrong she realizes her feelings are, or how dangerous. Aimee is harboring some serious secrets from her family that would complicate a relationship with Fang even further--if her strict and traditional Maman does not kill her first.

Romeo and Juliet with bears and wolves, BMR is a story above all else about family ties, and the duty to pack no matter the differences of any one member.

This story had it all and more...sometimes too much. As has become the case with many of Kenyon's recent DH books, I've found it difficult to keep up with all the politics, different pantheons, demons and gods, and blood feuds and powers. The fun part has always been trying to KEEP up. But lately it's been a little more work than it's worth. Maybe had I re-read Vane's book or any of the other earlier DH books I wouldn't have been so confused by the many characters and their relationships to each other. As it stands, the more I get into this series and the more myths and characters are introduced to me, the more difficult I find it to follow the many convoluted threads.

Out of the DH stories, the were-hunter books are some of my favorite. This one however, didn't measure up to Wren or Vane's stories to me, though they were brought in frequently for continuity. It really just served to make me hungry for their books.

Still, Fang was a hot, sexy yet vulnerable were you want to just take home and keep. He and Aimee were a great couple with excellent chemistry. I liked seeing them together. The story, for all it's faults was fast-paced and a page-turner and I enjoyed the book overall. ”

Gracie wrote this review 2 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

2 of 2 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) October 2009

Jim Heron is a secretive and keep-to-himself kind of guy and there’s a very good reason for that. If he told you what he used to do for a living, he’d have to kill you. He’s settled in Caldwell for a fresh start working construction for the diPietro Group. Enter the mysterious and beautiful woman in the blue dress from the Iron Mask. Model gorgeous, she’s as much out of place in the Iron Mask as Jim would be at a fancy art gallery opening. He’s just out for a couple of beers with two friends from work who couldn’t be more different from each other and makes Jim wonder how they ever get along well enough to be roommates. One’s a chatterbox and the other’s the complete opposite. It’s the chatterbox that gets Jim in a world of trouble, starting with pointing out the woman in the blue dress to Jim—over and over again. Jim just wants to get home and forget that it’s his fortieth birthday. But best laid plans get laid aside when Blue Dress follows him out to his truck and seduces him in the parking lot. Of course it doesn’t take much work on her part. Things wouldn’t be so bad if Blue Dress could have remained nameless and a one-night-stand he could forget about, but she turns out to be much than even Jim could imagine, someone who could ruin his life, such as it is, in more ways than one.

Vin diPietro worked his way up from poverty and a dark past with abusive alcoholic parents who didn’t think anything of using him like a punching bag the same way they used each other. School and friends would have been an escape, except Vin doesn’t have any of the latter mainly because he has these visions of death that always come true. Peers mainly keep their distance, calling him a freak and the teachers and parents are outright afraid of him.

By seventeen, Vin has had enough and takes drastic measures to get his life in control and get rid of the visions. It’s a fateful move he may just live to regret.

Marie-Therese is a single Mom working as a “dancer” in the Iron Mask to pay off a debt. On the run and in hiding, she’s doing the only thing she can think of to keep her son safe and herself under the radar in Caldwell. Thanks to the owner/manager of the Iron Mask, she has a modicum of protection and piece of mind, but not even the Trez can save her from her past…or her inevitable future.

When Jim and Vin wind up at the Iron Mask with Blue Dress and Vin and Marie-Therese get a look at each other, the world finally falls into place for the pair. Only thing is, there are forces among them ready to rip their worlds apart—forces both of this world and not.

Wow! What a great start to a new series. I was instantly hooked. Love the carry over-setting of the Iron Mask and Trez the symphath from Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood and some other name-dropping of familiar characters along the way. Vin and Marie-Therese are an engaging hero and heroine, each with deep dark secrets and believable motivations. I love their characters and love them as a couple and seeing them together. And what can I say about Jim and the other fallen angels except I can’t wait to read more and see how their next missions turn out. ”

Gracie wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 4 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) October 2009

All her life Audra Marks has thought of herself as the ugly sister, the different one in her family. She doesn't look like any of the other women in her family and just once in her life would like to be anything but "fat, black and ugly". She knows that her mother is hiding a secret from her, and even has an idea of what that secret is.

After a particularly trying and embarrassing day at her job as a Corrections Officer, only to be followed by an even more embarassing evening at the birthday party of the daughter of a co-worker that Audra is crushing on, Audra finds herself at a crossroads, and just desperate enough to go for the chance to finally be "light, bright and beautiful".

This was an excellent and fast-paced read with Langhorne's trademark humor and heartbreak. The characterizations are on point, especially Audra's ugly duckling. Her emotions and motivations are so real and true-to-life and the driving force behind a story fraught with family crisis and drama. The inner and outer conflicts are realistic and show how far a woman in pain will go to relieve it and how far she will go to get to the truth.

This is a nice piece of redemption after the un-engaging Street Level. ”

Gracie wrote this review Tuesday, October 13 2009. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 2 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) October 2009

I hated rating this because I couldn't finish it. I gave it until about page 54 and what I did read, I didn't like.

It had a great premise, sounded like someting I'd definitely enjoy, but the characterization just wasn't there for me. I didn't like any of the characters I met, especially the heroine/protagonist. She had all the makings of being the perfect heroine--courageous, self-sacrificing--but there was just something about her that stuck in my craw and made me incapable of reading any further or caring what happened to her.

I usually don't give up on a book this early on, and there are some that I've given up on and picked back up because I didn't want to be a quitter or there's just something about the characters that draws me back (Original Love by J.J. Murray is a perfect example and it turned out to be one of my favorite reads and made me glad I didn't give up on it). But there wasn't anything pulling me here--not the characters or the story which is a shame, because I wanted to like this.

I bought this book on the strength of the premise and the author (I had read two other IR romances by her and loved them). I guess that was part of my disappointment. This wasn't IR romance and I went in expecting it to be after the previous books. My mistake. ”

Gracie wrote this review Saturday, October 10 2009. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 5 stars

“Gracie C. McKeever (c) October 2009

DarkRiver sentinel and alpha leopard female, Mercy Smith begins to wonder if she is cut out to have a mate or will she ultimately wind up alone. She thinks the latter will be a reality for the mere fact that no mere submissive changeling can please her but neither will an alpha submit to her leopard. What's a female alpha to do, especially when she's attracted to an alpha wolf who wants nothing better than to have a submissive homemaker as his mate?

Riley Kinkaid is a SnowDancer alpha wolf and lieutenant to his Pack's alpha. Riley is known as the Wall to those in SnowDancer and DarkRiver. He prides himself on his control and refuses to let anyone get the upper hand with him or get passed his Wall, especially not the infuriatingly sexy and sizzling leopard, Mercy. Sex is one thing, but anything more intimate with a woman as indepdent and stubborn as the red-headed firebrand is out of the question. He has lost too much already to open up his heart or let his guard down again.

Mercy and Riley have been rubbing each other the wrong way for years but now that their Packs have formed an alliance, they will have to finde a middle ground in order to work together. The truce, however, does nothing to cool the fires between the pair, instead heats things up even more.

When a young genius researcher changeling is snatched from his home by the Human Alliance, Mercy and Riley must work together to get him back and find out who is behind the recent violence in their territories and the random Psy violence that has been breaking out all across the country.

Through adversity and the possibility of all-out war between the Psys and changelings, Mercy soon learns that there is a lot more to her annoying alpha wolf than meets the eye. Once she realizes what is really behind his control issues and overprotectiveness, can her leopard accept the possibility of breaking with her Pack in order to accept the mating bond?

A riveting, fast-paced story, scorching and off-the-charts h/h chemistry, and engaging and multi-layered plot and sub-plot characters makes this the best story yet in the psy-changeling series for me.

I highly recommend it!”

Gracie wrote this review Monday, October 5 2009. ( reply | permalink )

1 of 1 members found this review helpful.

• Rated 3 stars

“A gifted ex-jazz pianist turned teacher, Camille King was married to older jazz musician Elroy before his tragic death a year ago. Elroy was more interested in his career than starting a family. To appease Camille's dreams of becoming a mother and to make sure time doesn't run out on their ability to conceive at the right time, Elroy stores his sperm at the Hadley Clinic. After his death, Camille conceives a child through alternative methods with her dead husband's sperm.

Nicholas Cardoneaux is a talented and rich architect and closet artist with a respected family name and social prestige. But what he wants most in the world is to have a child. He and his wife Lauren lost four children in miscarriages. Each one was more heartbreaking to the married couple than the last, but the last preganancy passed the danger point when Nicholas' wife was involved in a car accident and miscarried as a result. Unable to deal with the aftermath, Lauren files for divorce despite Nicholas' arguments against it.

Nicholas and Lauren had also been clients of the Hadley clinic, their last conception, in fact, taken care of there.

Through a cruel twist of fate, Camille and Nick are introduced at the clinic one day and what they discover will turn their whole world upside down.

This wasn't the worst book I've ever read though there were some problems that pulled me out of the story at times, specifically issues like the mechanics (e.g., POV shifts mid-scene, tense shifts, scene shifts with no delineation or transition, whole sections of inner thoughts that should have been italicized all of which proved a little jarring). But despite all this, there was something about the characters and the storyline that pulled me in and kept me interested and reading until the end to find out what happens. I cared about the characters and wanted to know what their final fate was.

Though the plot and characters had cliched moments, the premise was inventive and original. As far as the enjoyment factor goes, and my ability to suspend my disbelief, Clark has produced a page-turner.

I recommend this book for fans of the genre. ”

Gracie wrote this review Sunday, October 4 2009. ( reply | permalink )