Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Review Round Up

One Way or AnotherOne Way or Another by Rhonda Bowen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was just okay. Toni Shields is a no-nonsense, career-driven woman who has no time for a man in her life. However, she can't fight the attraction she feels to Adam Bayne, a friend of her brother's who runs a group home for wayward boys.

I really liked all the characters, but would have liked to read more about the romance between and Adam and Toni, and less about the boys' home and Adam's past troubles. This was definitely more of a contemporary Christian fiction book, than a contemporary Christian romance.

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Source: Library

He Was My Man FirstHe Was My Man First by Nancey Flowers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I wrote out a review for this but GoodReads ate it and I don't feel like typing it again, so I'll just say this was definitely an enjoyable, action-packed read.

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Source: Library

An Accidental AffairAn Accidental Affair by Eric Jerome Dickey
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

EJD's recent works all seem to follow the same pattern (at least the last two I have read.) Someone commits a crime, then spends the rest of the book on the run. All the characters are the same, just different names.

In this one, writer James Thicke, flies into a violent rage, attacking Johnny Handsome, who had sex with James' wife, famous actress Regina Baptiste, on camera. James then flees away to an apartment complex, where he gives a fake name and has sex with many of the women in the building.

As I said, all the characters in these books seem to act the same way. And, just like EJD did in Tempted by Trouble with continuing to repeat Eddie Coyle's full name all the time, he does the same thing in here, with repeating characters' full names over and over (in this case, Regina Baptiste), I don't know why this bugs me so much, but I wish he would stop.

This was not a bad read at all, but again, I like the diversity and uniqueness in EJD's earlier works, that seems to be missing from his newer novels.

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Source: Library

Monday, June 18, 2012

Review-New York to Dallas

New York to Dallas (In Death, #33)New York to Dallas by J.D. Robb
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In this installment of the In Death series, Eve goes back to her hometown of Dallas to track down a violent pedophile named Isaac McQueen. Even put him away in jail many years ago, but now he's escaped and ready to get revenge.

I am a huge fan of this series and have enjoyed most of the books, however this one was a little too slow for me and it took awhile for me to get into it. Since it didn't take place in New York, there were just few scenes with the usual cast of characters such as Peabody and Summerset. As usual, I did enjoy the romantic interactions between Roarke and Eve, although there didn't seem to be too many of those also.

Oh, and the reveal about who Isaac's female partner was fell a little flat to me also. I felt that Eve was just a little too unattached to that when she should've been a bit more.

All in all, not a bad read, but definitely not one of my favorites in the series.

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Source: Library
Challenges: Outdo Yourself Challenge, 2012 Mystery and Suspense Challenge, Support Your Local Library

Sunday, June 10, 2012

Review-White Lines 2: Sunny

White Lines II: Sunny: A NovelWhite Lines II: Sunny: A Novel by Tracy Brown
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I truly enjoyed reading the first book in this series, White Lines. While I knew I definitely was going to read this sequel, I wasn't too excited about it. Seeing as how this one is titled White Lines 2: Sunny, that meant the main character would be Sunny. I wasn't a hge fan of her in the first book, so I didn't really want to read a whole book based on her. Secondly, I REALLY liked the characters of Jada and Born from the first novel. Those were the ones I really wanted to read about, and I wasn't sure if they would be a big part of this one.

However, as soon as I started reading, I was hooked. The character of Sunny is much more fleshed out in this book and I quickly grew to like her. She is still struggling to get over what happened to Dorian in the first novel, but she is trying to move on after starting to date a new man. With the stress of her new relationship, as well as the book deal she is working on, she again begins to find solace in the white lines she had once been addicted to.

I was also happy to read that both Jada and Born are in this one as well. Jada is now completely clean, and she and Born are slowly rekindling their romance. One thing Jada is struggling with, is raising the son she had with Jabari in the first novel. Sheldon is now showing the effects of being a crack baby, and is acting out in school, disrespecting Jada, and showing overall psychotic tendencies. Born is worried that, although he loves Jada, her problems with Sheldon (who is his enemy's son) might be too much for him to handle.

Again this novel keeps you on the edge of your seat and I enjoyed it even more than the first one. It ends with a cliffhanger and I absolutely cannot wait to find out what happens next.

View all my reviews Source: Library Challenges: Outdo Yourself Challenge, Support Your Local Library