DNF review: Changing His Game (Gamers #1) by Megan Erickson

Title: Changing His Game (Gamers #1)
Author: Megan Erickson
My rating: 2 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY
He controls the game, but she’s rewriting all the rules…

Marley Lake is no stranger to awkwardness, but getting caught watching a dirty GIF by the company’s hot new IT guy exceeds even her standards. That is, until she realizes he's as turned on by it as she is. But with a big promotion on the line, she refuses to let her current dry spell be her downfall. Maybe.

Austin Rivers has no business lusting after the irresistible editor of Gamers Magazine. He's a secret partner in the business—and technically Marley’s boss. One look at that GIF, though, and he’s ready to install a whole lot more than just software…as long as she never finds out who he really is.

But reality’s not as virtual as it seems, and when Austin’s identity jeopardizes Marley’s promotion, he has to change his game or risk losing the only woman with the cheat code to his heart.

MY THOUGHTS

It looks like Brazen books are not for me. I’ve tried several and none of them worked for me. I don’t know what the problem is. Maybe it’s because they are short. It’s hard to develop characters and make interesting romance when you are so limited in pages, especially when a big chunk of the book is taken by sex scenes.

And I really expected to enjoy Changing His Game. A sexy nerd as a hero, a strong and driven heroine, forbidden romance (especially forbidden romance!) and sexy times – what not to love?

Well, I tried to finish this book twice. First time I managed about 20%, had a hard time getting into the story, decided that maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for this kind of story and put it on hold. Time passed, and I picked it up again and read about 50%, then I put it aside again.

Now almost two months later I have no inclination to continue it. So DNF.

What were my issues with this book? I couldn’t connect with the characters. I found them flat and uninteresting. The romance developed too quickly, though I don’t mind in this case, because you expect this from a Brazen book. What I mind though is a lack of chemistry. Since I read this kind of books with the only purpose – to get wonderful romance with sexual tension, I was greatly disappointed.

I don’t mean to discourage anyone from reading this little story though. Many of my friends enjoyed it. If you liked Brazen books previously you probably would enjoy Changing His Game more than I did.

Audiobook review: Confess by Colleen Hoover

Title: Confess
Author: Colleen Hoover
Narrator: Sebastian York, Elizabeth Louise
Story rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Audio rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Overall rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars

MY THOUGHTS

I have a confession: I’m a hopeless audiobook addict. I’m not kidding. I listen every chance I get, even if it’s just ten minutes commute; I listen while I’m cooking, I listen while I’m cleaning, I listen while I’m walking, sometimes I even listen while I’m applying make-up. You get the picture. So it’s not a good sign when this happens:

• I’m cleaning and I’m listening to music instead of an audiobook.

• During my commute instead of an audiobook I’m going for the radio.

• I’m walking and instead of plugging my ear buds in, I’m, well, just walking.

• I’m applying my make-up, and I’m thinking “It’s just several minutes, why even bother with an audiobook, I don’t have “enough time to listen”.

This is exactly what happened here. I think it took me twice as long as usual to listen to Confess because I found more interesting things to do. I had my doubts before starting this book, and unfortunately it didn’t work for me at all. It’s been ages since I’ve read a book by Colleen Hoover. I’ve read and loved her Slammed and Hopeless, but my book tastes changed drastically since then. So I don’t think I would give those books high ratings now. In truth the reason why I decided to read Confess is that the audiobook is narrated by Sebastian York. I’ve heard A LOT about this narrator. It looks like everyone praises his voice. So as a self-proclaimed audio addict I needed to hear him for myself. My thoughts about the narration later, now I want to talk about the book.

I was bored out of my mind. I think if I read this book instead of listening I would DNF it.

This story is about Auburn Reed. She has recently moved to Texas, she has undesirable job, feels very lonely and in need of money and new job. Then one day she comes across Owen Gentry’s studio. He is an artist and his project is very unique. People anonymously send him their confessions, and he uses them as an inspiration for his works. He needs an assistant and Auburn jumps at the offer. They feel an instant attraction, but of course there are a lot of obstacles on their way.

First of all I want to say that Owen freaked me out in first chapters. He came across as a stalker who somehow knew Auburn from the past and was obsessed with her. Then of course there was insta-love which annoyed the hell out of me. I do believe in insta-lust. But in this case Auburn and Owen weren’t just physically attracted to each other. After knowing each other for a few days they felt so much so deeply, that it was over the top. I find it hard to believe that a woman in Auburn’s position would risk it all, risk to lose the most important thing in her life for a guy she had just met. As for the Owen I find his obsession on Auburn bordering on unhealthy. All in all I couldn’t connect with the characters, I didn’t feel any chemistry between them and their insta-love annoyed me a lot.

There were several twists in the book, but my mind was wondering. I usually love suspense, I love when the author keeps me in the dark, but in this case I was bored. I was so annoyed with the characters, that when all secrets were revealed I just didn’t care.

My thoughts about the audiobook

Elizabeth Louise, who narrated Auburn, is a new to me narrator. She was ok, I guess, but I don’t think I’ll be in search of audiobooks performed by her.

Here comes Sebastian York. Well, I wasn’t impressed. There, I’ve said it. Probably my extremely high expectations were the cause of my disappointment. I don’t know what I expected; everyone mentions that his voice is sexy and sinful. Sebastian York is a good narrator, but I don’t get all this fuss around him, though this can be just my personal preference. I also had another issue. As I understood Owen was in his early twenties, but Sebastian York sounds like a man in his thirties. At first I wanted to check out how old Sebastian York is; maybe he is twenty and he just has an older voice. But you know what? Narrator’s real age doesn’t matter, because listeners hear only his voice. It really annoys me when narrator’s voice is not age-appropriate.

As you can see Confess was a big disappointment for me. It’s a shame really because I find the concept of this book very interesting (the author included confessions from real people and some of them were heartbreaking). I also wonder if my feelings toward Confess would be different if read a paperback instead of an audiobook. Many readers mentioned gorgeous art-work. All in all it seems like Colleen Hoover is not an author for me anymore. I think it’s time to part our ways.

AUDIO SAMPLE:

Audiobook review: Beyond the Highland Mist (Highlander #1) by Karen Marie Moning

Title: Beyond the Highland Mist (Highlander #1)
Author: Karen Marie Moning
Narrator: Phil Gigante
Story rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Audio rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Overall rating: 2 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY
An Alluring Laird

He was known throughout the kingdom as Hawk, legendary predator of the battlefield and the boudoir. No woman could refuse his touch, but no woman ever stirred his heart—until a vengeful fairy tumbled Adrienne de Simone out of modern-day Seattle and into medieval Scotland. Captive in a century not her own, entirely too bold, too outspoken, she was an irresistible challenge to the sixteenth-century rogue. Coerced into a marriage with Hawk, Adrienne vowed to keep him at arm's length—but his sweet seduction played havoc with her resolve.

A Prisoner in Time

She had a perfect "no" on her perfect lips for the notorious laird, but Hawk swore she would whisper his name with desire, begging for the passion he longed to ignite within her. Not even the barriers of time and space would keep him from winning her love. Despite her uncertainty about following the promptings of her own passionate heart, Adrienne's reservations were no match for Hawk's determination to keep her by his side....

MY THOUGHTS

Are you a fan of Fever series by Karen Marie Moning? My advice to you: don’t compare Beyond the Highland Mist with Fever. I know, I know, it’s impossible. Oh, well… I’m a huge fun of Fever series. Before I started Beyond the Highland Mist I’ve read a lot of disappointed reviews from those readers, who wanted more Fever from the author. So I lowered my expectations, and was prepared for the worst. Or so I thought.

While reading this book I kept seeing glimpses of future Fever series (which Moning wrote seven years later). Beyond the Highland Mist reads like a draft to Fever.

I should probably tell right away that I rarely read Historical Romance; and I can count on the fingers on one hand the number of times when I picked up a Highlander Romance. It’s just not appealing to me. I prefer contemporary, but I needed a book with time-traveling for my challenge so I decided to try this book.

I can’t say that Beyond the Highland Mist is very bad. Hawk was your usual romance alpha-hero: strong, beautiful, honorable, skilled in bed and madly in love with the heroine. Adrianne however was not your usual shy virginal heroine. She was a strong-willed, outspoken and smart woman. I really liked her.

Adrienne was thrust from modern-day Seattle into medieval Scotland where she was forced to marry Hawk. While both of them went into this marriage unwillingly they felt instant attraction. I already knew that Moning can write smut. Adrianne and Hawk’s interactions were full of sexual chemistry. Moning’s writing is so deliciously sensual. But I wasn’t sold on their insta-love. Their feelings to each other progressed in such unrealistic pace

The other thing that bothered me was how easily Adrienne embraced her new life. She was so ready to leave 21 Century behind. I get that she was an orphan and didn’t have any family, but why didn’t she have any friends? With her personality I find this unbelievable. At one moment in the book she told that she didn’t want to return in future because in her time people were cruel and they killed each other. Like life in medieval Scotland was peaceful and not savage at all.

In truth I contemplated DNFing this book multiple times. The only reason I finished it was my reading challenge.

Side note: I could live without comparison of Hawk’s manhood to stallion’s one. These remarks that Hawk was hang like a stallion really grated on my nerves.

My thoughts about the audiobook

Beyond the Highland Mist is narrated by Phil Gigante who also happened to narrate Fever series. I absolutely loved his performance in Fever; I added him to my list of favorite narrators, and I actually made a shelf for him on GR. So I was really looking forward to listen to this audiobook.

But I didn’t take into consideration one thing. In Fever we had a dual narration. Natalie Ross narrated female voices while Phil Gigante narrated male voices. Beyond the Highland Mist is narrated only by Phil Gigante, so he performs male as well as female voices. And while I love his deep rich low masculine voice, I’m not impressed by his high-pitched female voices. I know it’s probably difficult for a man with a low voice to sound like a female, but it lessened my enjoyment of the audiobook.

I didn’t like Beyond the Highland Mist, but I’m not a fun of Highlander Romance and I couldn’t help myself but compare this book to the Fever series. I’ve seen a lot of positive reviews, so probably it’s just me.

Mini-review: Last Will and Testament (Radleigh University #1) by Dahlia Adler

Title: ast Will and Testament (Radleigh University #1)
Author: Dahlia Adler
My rating: 2 of 5 Stars

MY THOUGHTS

Last will and Testament could be so much better. Despite it being the forbidden love story and I’m a sucker for this kind of stories, this book didn’t work for me at all.

The life of Lizzie Brandt, college student is spiraling down. She is partying, drinking and on top of that she is sleeping with Trevor, who has a girlfriend. Sudden death of her parents brings a jarring stop to her life. Now Lizzie is a guardian to her two little brothers and she needs to keep her scholarship which means to straighten her grades. Here comes Connor Lawson. He is TA in Lizzie’s class. Unexpectedly Connor helps Lizzie to find an apartment and helps her to study. The more time they spend together the more difficult it is to stay apart.

The first thing that didn’t work for me was writing style. Actually it remained me of Price of a Kiss (Forbidden Men, #1) by Linda Kage. The same upbeat style with swearing, which made very difficult for me to connect with Lizzie. I wanted to feel her feelings, but she came as this shallow, too optimistic person.

My next complaint is how grieving was portrayed. Lizzie just lost her parents, so I expected to feel for her loss, her pain. But I didn’t. The same was about her brothers.

The romance didn’t work for me either. There was no chemistry between Lizzie and Connor. This was a forbidden romance: he is a teacher, she is a student. There was so much at stake for both of them. I wanted a big conflict; I wanted turmoil of emotions… But there was none of that.

Also there was all that unnecessary angst. As I’ve told not once I like angst. But, and it’s a big BUT, I don’t like angst for the sake of angst. I want my angst to have some purpose in the book. I don’t like when the author brings some bitchy ex-girl who makes unbelievable stuff to tear apart our couple.

All in all this wasn’t a book for me.

Review: To Professor, with Love (Forbidden Men #2) by Linda Kage

Title: To Professor, with Love (Forbidden Men #2)
Author: Linda Kage
Publication date: April 26th 2014
My rating: 2 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY (from Goodreads)
Junior in college. Star athlete. Constant attention from the opposite sex.

On this campus, I’m worshiped. While seven hundred miles away, back in my hometown, I’m still trailer park trash, child of the town tramp, and older sibling to three kids who are counting on me to keep my shit together so I can take them away from the same crappy life I grew up in.

These two opposing sides of myself never mix until one person gets a glimpse of the true me. I never expected to connect with anyone like this or want more beyond one night. This may be the real deal.

Problem is, Dr. Kavanagh’s my literature professor.

If I start anything with a teacher and we’re caught together, I might as well kiss my entire future goodbye, as well as my family’s, and especially Dr. Kavanagh’s. Except sometimes love is worth risking everything. Or at least, it damn well better be because I can only resist so much.

MY THOUGHTS

I think this is where Linda Kage and I go our separate ways. I’ve read her another book Price of a Kiss (Forbidden Men, #1) and didn’t like it much either. When I read the blurb of To Professor, with Love, I was intrigued. I usually cannot walk away from a story with forbidden romance and I’ve read a lot of books with student/teacher romance. Never the less I found this one unique, because I’d never read a book where the teacher is female and the student is male. In truth, I wasn’t expecting much from To Professor, with Love. I wasn’t expecting depth and meaningfulness, I wanted my dose of romance, angst, steam, real characters and I wanted to feel emotions. Instead I found myself irritated, more than ones I found myself rolling my eyes. One particular scene was so stupid that I wanted to close my book and mark it as “did not finish”.

I think my main problem with Linda Kage’s books was that I couldn’t connect with her characters. I didn’t feel compassion for them and their problems, for that matter I didn’t feel any emotion toward them.

My other complain is that this book deals with a very serious problem, and the author throws this issue at the reader only to add more drama. Also there is the usual: “our heroine meets her prince who miraculously solves all her problems”.

In To Professor with Love the reader meets with Reese Randall and Mason Lowe, main characters of the first book in this series Price of a Kiss. Actually we meet them a lot; several scenes especially featured their problems. In my opinion they didn’t add anything good to the book; on the contrary they distracted me from the main story.

All in all To Professor with Love wasn’t a book for me. But if you liked Price of a Kiss, probably you would like this book.

Mini-Review: Price of a Kiss (Forbidden Men #1) by Linda Kage

Title: Price of a Kiss (Forbidden Men #1
Author: Linda Kage
Publication date: August 15th 2013
My rating: 2 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY (from Goodreads)
I don’t care what my cousin says; I am not the queen of impossible relationships. I mean, just because my last boyfriend tried to kill me and left a bit of a scar on my neck, then forced me to move across the country and legally change my name to Reese Randall to escape him, does not mean—

Oh, who am I kidding? For a freshman in college, I have to have the worst dating track record ever.

It’s no wonder love is the last thing on my mind when Mason Lowe enters my life. But the chemistry between us is like bam! Our connection defies logic. And he’s just so freaking hot. Being around him makes me feel more alive than I’ve ever felt before. I even like bickering with him. He could be my soul mate...except for one teeny tiny glitch.

He's a gigolo.

Boy, do I know how to pick them.

MY THOUGHTS

Rating 2.5 stars.

The main reason I didn’t like this book is the annoying obsession Reese with Mason. He is the only thing on Reese’s mind.

Her thoughts, when she sees Mason for the first time: “His dark, wavy hair called to me – Reese, Reese! Run your fingers through my wild, gorgeous, untamed mane.”

They made eye contact for the first time: “I was electrocuted from the inside out. My fingertips sizzled and toes curled as if an invisible, kinetically charged bolt tethered me to the hunk fifty yards away, who seemed to bind us together with his stare alone”

Mason was going to walk right by Reese on his way to the school: “Nothing but ten feet of dead air was going to separate him from me. Dear Lord in heaven, please deliver me. Could I survive such close proximity? I honestly didn’t know. My chest heaved from the sudden unsteady rhythm of my breathing.”

And it were only first 30 pages, and they didn’t actually meet yet!

On the positive side Reese was funny with sense of humor. Her internal monologs and comments were hilarious.

My second problem with this book was execution of the theme of male prostitution. I’ve read several books with a similar topic and there are two types of stories among them. The first one shows what a struggle is to escape this kind of life for a person. The second one is a glossed up story with a neat ending. Unfortunately “Price of a Kiss” falls in the second category (another example is Just for Now by Abbi Glines). If you want romance which show male prostitution in more real light try Finding Home by Lauren Baker, Bonnie Dee or Fallen from Grace by Laura Leone.

Mini-Review: Keep Holding On by Susane Colasanti

Title: Susane Colasanti
Author: Susane Colasanti
Publication date: May 31st 2012
Publisher: Viking Juvenile
My rating: 2 of 5 Stars

SUMMARY (from Goodreads)
Noelle's life is all about survival. Even her best friend doesn't know how much she gets bullied, or the ways her mom neglects her. Noelle's kept so much about her life a secret for so long that when her longtime crush Julian Porter starts paying attention to her, she's terrified. Surely it's safer to stay hidden than to risk the pain of a broken heart. But when the antagonism of her classmates takes a dramatic turn, Noelle realizes it's time to stand up for herself--and for the love that keeps her holding on.

MY THOUGHTS

After reading the blurb I was expecting an intense and emotional story. The blurb said: "A romantic and empowering book about bullying". I found Keep Holding On rather boring and annoying. I wanted a storm of emotions, but I felt nothing. You know about showing and not telling? Susane Colasanti shows little and tells too much.

It was really hard for me to connect with Noelle; I never felt much for her. No, that’s not truth, she annoyed me a lot.

Bullying and abuse are very serious themes; unfortunately Keep Holding On fails to deliver emotions. I think Reason to Breathe by Rebecca Donovan and Heart on a Chain by Cindy C. Bennett is much better.

Review: A Modern Love Story by Jolyn Palliata

Title: A Modern Love Story
Author: Jolyn Palliata
Publication date: April 1st 2013
My rating: 2 из 5

SUMMARY (from Goodreads)
After the death of her parents, Robbie Byrne is put in foster care where she meets her exact opposite, Luc Cintrone. Abandoned as a small child, Luc is a foul-mouthed rebel who takes it upon himself to be her defender, whether she likes it or not. As they grow up, they fumble through their different roles in each other's lives—family, confidants and then, ultimately, lovers.

Just as the couple is settling into their newfound relationship, they encounter a beautiful lawyer, Payten, who is immediately taken by Luc's rough edges. But he denies her, making him absolutely irresistible in her eyes. Payten is a woman who has grown accustomed in her privileged life in obtaining whatever she wants, no matter the cost or sacrifice. And she is fairly confident Luc will eventually see things her way…one way or another.

MY THOUGHTS

First 30% of A Modern Love Story was good. My rating for this part is3.5 Stars. It was sweet, romantic and innocent story about two foster kids: Robbie, whose parents died, and Luc, whose parents abandoned him. We see their relationship move from reluctant partnership to friendship to love (though at first only Robbie felt this way). I liked how every chapter was a quick glance in their 12 years old, then 14 years old and so on. I think this story had potential but after about 30% it all went wrong and by the end of the book it became only worse.

My first problem with this book was cheating. I usually avoid this theme, so if I knew beforehand there would be cheating in this book I wouldn’t pick it up. Although cheating is not my theme I can appreciate it if it tackled well, which I can’t say about this A Modern Love Story. Luc never redeemed himself in my eyes. Rather big portion of the book is about cheating, and author can’t make readers invest their emotions and time in these cheating scenes and later make some quick excuses for hero. Luc says he is sorry and he is forgiven.

My second problem was the plot and characterization of Payten. Plot was unbelievable. Payten was pictured as an evil villain, who stops at nothing (and I mean nothing) to have Luc. The things she did to ruin Luc and Robbie’s relationship were so ridiculous and unbelievable, that they make me roll my eyes.

The one thing I really appreciate in this book is portraying of the foster parents. Not all of foster parents are abusers, sadists or rapists (this picture we often see in Young Adult and New Adult nowadays).There is actually caring and loving foster parents. I adored Leah and Lawson. I wish they were more fleshed-out.

All and all A Modern Love Story is not the greatest book. While there are parts I liked, this was a disappointment.