Review- The Reverend's Wife

The Reverend's Wife by Kimberla Lawson Roby

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I have long been a fan of Kimberla Lawson Roby and her Curtis Black series. She has a very straight-forward, easy-going writing style with relatable and believable characters. The last two books I read in the series focused on Curtis' daughter Alicia.

This one the focus is back on Curtis and his wife Charlotte. As I read, I realized that I hadn't read the previous book Love, Honor, and Betray. A quick summary through dialogue was given in this book and I was glad to see I hadn't missed anything important. Although I do still enjoy this series, I have to say it is starting to get a bit redundant. I'm pretty sure everything that happened in this one has happened in some other form in one of the earlier books. I have already placed the next book in the series A House Divided on my TBR list, however I'm sure it, too, will be more of the same.



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Source: Library
Challenges: 2013 Outdo Yourself Challenge, 2013 Library Challenge

2012 Challenge Roundup

Here's how I did on my 2012 challenges:

Goodreads ChallengeFAIL
I wanted to read 65 books, but only managed 59.

The Book Vixen's Outdo Yourself Challenge FAIL
I read 61 books last year, so I wasn't able to surpass that this year.

Why Buy the Cow Reading Challenge FAIL
I wanted to read at least 12 free e-books this year. I read NONE, zip, zero, nada.

Support Your Local Library Challenge SUCCESS!
Midway through the year I upped my level to Level 4 (37+) books and I ended up reading 53 library books.

2012 E-Book Challenge FAIL
I wanted to read 10 e-books. I ended up reading only 4 e-books (One for the Money and the 50 Shades Trilogy)

2012 Mystery and Suspense Challenge FAIL
I wanted to read 12 mystery/suspense novels, I ended up only reading 9.

Fall Into Reading Challenge SUCCESS and FAIL
It was a success because I read more than the original 10 books that I posted (I read 12 books in that timeframe.) It was a fail because I only read 1 of the books from my original list.

Now, some of the questions from The Perpetual Page Turner's End of Year Survey:

1. Best Book I read in 2012? - White Lines by Tracy Brown
2. Most Disappointing Book- The Fifty Shades Trilogy. I did enjoy it, I just thought it would be better than it was.
3. Most surprising book? - The Bum Magnet. Seriously didn't think it would be good, but it was awesome.
4. Book I recommended to people the most? - White Lines
5. Best series? - The White Lines series. can't wait for part 3!
6. Favorite New Authors - Carla Pennington, Miasha, K.L. Brady
7. Book that was out of my comfort zone/ different genre- A Stolen Life, the Jaycee Dugard story
8. Most thrilling, unputdownable book- Diary of a Mistress
9. Most memorable character- I'm gonna cheat and do the most memorable couple. Definitely Jada and Born from White Lines.

My top 10 favorite books of 2012:
1. White Lines-Tracy Brown
2. White Lines 2: Sunny- Tracy Brown
3. The Bum Magnet-K.L. Brady
4. Got a Right to be Wrong- K.L. Brady
5. The Available Wife Part 2- Carla Pennington
6. Diary of a Mistress- Miasha
7. Another Man Will- Daaimiah S. Poole
8. Fly on the Wall- Trista Russell
9. Celebrity in Death- JD Robb
10. Treachery in Death- JD Robb

2013 Challenges

These are the challenges I will take part in 2013.

Workaday Read's 2013 E-Book Challenge

Challenge Guidelines:

This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2013 – Dec 31, 2013.
Anyone can join, you don’t need to be a blogger. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to sign-up in the comments. You can post reviews to any book site (i.e. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Goodreads, etc).
Any genre or length of book counts, as long as it is in ebook format.
You can plan your books in advance or as you read them.
When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the E-Book Reading Challenge.
You can move up levels, but no moving down.
Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2013, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
Levels:

Floppy disk – 5 ebooks
CD – 10 ebooks
DVD – 25 ebooks
Memory stick – 50 ebooks
Hard drive – 75 ebooks
Server – 100 ebooks
Human brain – 150 ebooks

This year I will go for the CD Level (10 e-books) again.

The Book Vixen's Contemporary Romance Reading Challenge

Reading Challenge Details:

Runs January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013 (books read prior to 1/1/2013 do not count towards the challenge). You can join at anytime. Sign up on The Book Vixen’s blog.
The goal is to read at least 10 contemporary romance novels.

The Book Vixen's 2013 Outdo Yourself Reading Challenge

Reading Challenge Details:

Runs January 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013 (books read prior to 1/1/2013 do not count towards the challenge). You can join at anytime. Sign up on The Book Vixen’s blog.
The goal is to outdo yourself by reading more books in 2013 than you did in 2012. See the different levels below and pick the one that works best for you. You can move up a level as often as you’d like but no moving down.
Books can be any format (bound, ebook, audio).
Novellas that are at least 100 pages in length, as well as full-length novels, will count for this reading challenge.
Re-reads and crossovers from other reading challenges are allowed.
Grab the reading challenge button and post this reading challenge on your blog to track your progress. Please include a link back to this sign-up post so others can join the reading challenge too. You do not have to be a book blogger to participate; you can track your progress on Goodreads or LibraryThing.


Levels:

Getting my heart rate up – Read 1–5 more books
Out of breath – Read 6–10 more books
Breaking a sweat – Read 11–15 more books
I’m on fire! – Read 16+ more books

The 2012 Outdo Yourself Challenge will end up being a fail for me, so this year I will aim to read 62 books, which will be 3 more books than I read this year.

2013 TBR Pile Reading Challenge

Challenge Guidelines:
This challenge will run from Jan 1, 2013 - Dec 31, 2013.
Anyone can enter! You don't have to be a blogger, as long as you review the book you've read! (On your blog, Amazon or Goodreads/Shelfari!)
Any genre, length or format of book counts, as long as it is a book that's been sitting on your shelf for some time now. Only books released in 2012 and earlier! NO 2013 ARCs and 2013 fresh-off-the-press releases allowed!
You can list your books in advance or just put them in a wrap-up post. If you list them, feel free to change them as the mood takes you.
When you sign up in the linky, put the direct link to your post about joining the 2013 TBR PILE Reading Challenge. (If you don't have a blog, post about it on Facebook or Tweet!)
You can move up levels, but no moving down.
Sign-ups will be open until Dec 15, 2013, so feel free to join at any time throughout the year.
On the 20th of each month one of the hosts will post a wrap-up. Every wrap-up will have it's unique theme, a mini-challenge, a giveaway and place for you to link up your reviews from this month. For each review you link up, you will get one entry in a drawing of one book of choice from Book Depository. It's open to INTERNATIONALS. The giveaway will be open until the next wrap up post goes up! (i.e. the entire month)
If you miss a wrap-up post + giveaway, you can link up your reviews next month. Do not, however, try to link up one review twice - we will be checking ;)
December is a wrap-up for the whole year. All the book reviews you linked up January-November + the ones you'll link up in December will be entered into a HUGE giveaway - a box of books.
You don't have to follow all the hosts to join the challenge, but you do have to follow all of us to be entered in giveaways!
Levels:
(how many books you're planning to read for this challenge in 2013)

1-10 - A Firm Handshake
11-20 - A Friendly Hug
21-30 - A Sweet Kiss
31-40 - Love At First Sight
41-50 - Married With Children

I would like to go for the "A Firm Handshake" Level and read between 1 and 10 books. Here are some of the books I plan to read from my Goodreads TBR pile:
1. Anna and the French Kiss- Stephanie Perkins
2. I Heart New York-Lindsey Kelk
3. Falling into Grace-Michelle Stimpson
4. Gone Girl-Gillian Flynn

Book Dragon's Lair's Library Reading Challenge

Requirements:
choose a level - you may move up as needed, just not down.
check books out of the library
books may overlap with other challenges
any format allowed (print, ebook, audio)
reviews are not necessary but a list of books read is.
a blog is not necessary, just comment that you want to join in

Levels:
board book - 3
picture book - 6
early reader - 9
chapter book - 12
middle grades - 18
Young adult - 24
adult - 36
just insert IV - 50

I loved participating in this challenge last year, mostly since it was the only challenge I actually succeeded in. This year I will go for the Adult level and challenge myself to read 36 books or more from the library.

Update

Sorry, did not mean to complete abandon this blog, it's just that school's been crazy so far. I hope to get things going again at the start of the year. Here are the books I've read and enjoyed over the past few weeks:
Fly on the Wall-Trista Russell (a high school senior and a teacher engage in a torrid affair...LOVED it)- 5 stars
Celebrity in Death- JD Robb (while making a movie based on one of Eve's cases, one of the main actresses is murdered...LOVED it ) 5 stars
The Next Best Thing- Deidre Berry (cute story, liked the main character) - 4 stars
Keeping Misery Company- Michelle Larks 5 stars
Naked Love-Darnella Ford 5 stars
Platinum-Aliya S. King 4 stars
What She Left Behind- Tracy Bilen (young adult novel about a girl's mother who goes missing. Interesting story, although I didn't really like how it ended) 4 stars
The Other Side of Goodness- Vanessa Davis Griggs 4 stars
Not Quite What It Seems- Mari Walker 4 stars
Naughty and Nice- Eric Jerome Dickey 4 stars

Review-A Good Excuse to be Bad

A Good Excuse to Be Bad by Miranda Parker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I saw this on the library shelf, I was excited to read it because the description sounded interesting:
"Smart, gorgeous, and too tough for her own good, bail recovery agent and single mom Evangeline Crawford moved to the burbs for a quiet life. Fortunately, it's not turning out that way...

Angel has to admit she's feeling restless. The only excitement in her new life is her schoolgirl crush on the town's new pastor, Justus-too-Hot-to-be-Holy Morgan. But a fateful encounter and a job gone wrong at Club Night Candy in underground Atlanta is about to change all that... Soon, Angel's trying to save her divazilla twin sister from her big mouth and a scandalous murder charge, and probing a church cover-up--with none other than Justus by her side. But Angel has one more pressing concern: will Bella be ready for kindergarten? Only time will tell for this bad girl gone good whose days are once again far from boring--and hopefully far from numbered..."

Unfortunately, that description was the best thing about the book. It was a struggle to finish, as the story line was boring and repetitive and none of the characters were particularly interesting. It did pick up at the end, which bumped my rating up to a 3, but not much else was good about this.

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

Review-Another Man Will

Another Man Will by Daaimah S. Poole
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Daaimah S. Poole's books are very hit or miss for me, but this one was a definite hit!

We have three sisters--Crystal, Yvette, and Dana, who are all looking for the same thing--a good man.

Crystal hopes she's finally found one in the guy who's had a crush on her since childhood. Dana crosses the color lines and ends up falling in love. And Yvette bounces back from her loser ex-husband by hooking up with a sexy older man.

I thought this was a really cute story that kept me interested from start to finish. All three characters were very likable and relatable and I enjoyed reading each of their stories. I definitely recommend this funny and engaging tale.

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Source: Library
Challenges: Support Your Local Library, Outdo Yourself Challenge

Review-Got a Right to be Wrong

Got a Right to Be Wrong by K.L. Brady
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading "The Bum Magnet" and couldn't wait to pick this one up and see what was next for crazy Charisse.

At the end of "The Bum Magnet" it seemed as though Charisse's long string of bums had finally come to an end. She met and fell in love with Kevin, and now they are one week from their wedding day. However, Charisse then finds out something about Kevin that makes her wonder if he is just another bum to add to her collection. Along with dealing with that, she also has her crazy family members in town for the wedding, as well as her best friend Lamar who is looking to replace Kevin as soon as he can.

This was a fantastic follow up to "The Bum Magnet." K.L. Brady does a fantastic job of making all these characters come alive and is able to keep what could have been a typical "baby mama drama" novel into an exciting page-turner. I couldn't wait to see what Charisse would do next.

I look forward to reading more of K.L. Brady's books.

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Source: Purchased

Challenges: Outdo Yourself Challenge, 2012 E-Book Challenge

Fall Into Reading 2012

Callapidder Days is hosting the Fall Into Reading Challenge. I had a lot of fun doing it last year, so I'm excited to get through some of the books on my TBR pile by participating again this year.

Here's a list of the guidelines:

*Make a list of books you want to read (or finish reading) this fall. Your list can be as long or as short as you’d like.
*Write a blog post containing your list and submit it to this post using the Mr. Linky below.
*Get reading! The challenge goes from today, September 22nd, through December 21st.
*Check out other participants’ lists and add to your own to-read-someday pile, if you wish!
*Write a post about your challenge experience in December, telling us all about whether you reached your goals and how Fall Into Reading went for you. But remember: this is a low-pressure challenge that should be fun.

Here are the books I'd like to read during this challenge:

1. Got a Right to be Wrong-K.L. Brady (reading now)
2. Delusion in Death-J.D. Robb
3. Destiny's Divas-Victoria Christopher Murray
4. The Secret She Kept-Reshonda Tate Billingsley
5. Falling into Grace-Michelle Stimpson
6. Scandals-Sasha Campbell
7. Gone Girl-Gillian Flynn
8. One False Move-Harlan Coben
9. Yesterday's Lies-Terri D.
10. The Someday List-Stacy Hawkins Adams

I hope to read more than this, but this is a start.

Review Fifty Shades of Grey Trilogy

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So a few weeks ago I finally finished the books that had been all the rage with women this summer: the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. I started the first one while on vacation, so I was able to fly through it pretty quickly, but it took me awhile to get through the other two, mostly because of being back to work.

First of all, I must admit, I was a tad disappointed while reading the first book. I thought the book would be basically all BDSM porn, I didn't know there would be an actual love storyline involved. At times, the book just read like a glorified Harlequin romance novel. But once I got past that, it was a little easier to get into the story. I did like the characters of Anastasia and Christian. I liked how Ana was not afraid to stand up to Christian at all, no matter how much she loved him, and how she stood by her beliefs. Likewise, I also liked how she did open herself up to some of his "Red Room" fantasies.

The second book I liked the least in this series, this one seemed to really drag by and nothing really interesting happens. The third book was my favorite of the three (although I grew tired of all the mushiness at the beginning with the constant "I love you Mr. Grey" and "I love you more Mrs. Grey.") This one had a lot more action and conflicts and I loved the way it ended. I also enjoyed reading their first meeting from Christian's point of view. While I wouldn't have liked the whole book from his POV, it would've been interesting to read more of his thoughts.

All in all, I give the series as a whole about 3 and half stars. Not a classic by any means, but an enjoyable, hot little read.



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Source: Purchased
Challenges: Outdo Yourself Challenge, 2012 E-Book Challenge

Summer Wrap Up Readathon Wrap Up Post

This readathon ended a week ago, but I'm finally able to post what I accomplished. My goal was to read as much of the 50 Shades trilogy that I could, and I was able to read a book and a half (All of Fifty Shades of Grey and half of Fifty Shades Darker.) I've been so busy this week getting ready for the start of school next week, that I haven't read much at all this week.

Review-The Bum Magnet

The Bum Magnet by K.L. Brady
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I won this paperback last year from a giveaway by Diva's Bookcase and finally got around to reading it.
Charisse Tyson calls herself a bum magnet, because that's all she's seemed to be able to attract-bums. Throughout this funny and engaging read, we find out about all the bums Charisse has had to deal with--the playa playa who secretly had eight kids, the pretty boy with a wife on the side, and the deadbeat who made out with another woman in Charisse's car while she was out watching his kids. Now she meets a new guy named Dwayne, and wonders if her bum magnet curse will finally be broken.

I really enjoyed this story and I liked Charisse and all the other characters. It was a tad predictable at times, but still kept me eagerly turning the pages to read more. A great debut for author K. L. Brady.

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Source: Won Challenges Outdo Yourself Challenge

Summer Wrap Up Readathon and Vacation

I have one week left of summer vacation. My plan was to read 12 books this summer. Well tonight I should be finishing book #12, which means I would have met my goal, a week ahead of schedule. Yay! I'll be spending my last week of freedom aboard the Carnival Pride for seven days as it cruises from Baltimore, MD to Port Canaveral, Florida and then to the Bahamas. I plan to spend lots of time on a deck chair by the pool or on my balcony in a deck chair overlooking the ocean while reading my Nook Color, so I figured I'd sign up for this Summer Wrap Up Readathon. My goals? Well, I figure I'll read some trashy erotica, so I'm downloading the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and I hope to finish it during the week (or at least finish the first one and depending on how I like that one, decide if the other two will be worth reading.)

Have a great week!

July Review Round Up

Should Have Known Better by Grace Octavia
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Dawn believes she has the perfect marriage, until her sorority sister from college comes to visit and decides she wants Dawn's husband for herself.

This one was just okay, didn't really like the characters, although the story line was intriguing enough to keep me reading.

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Source: Library
Secret Obsession by Kimberla Lawson Roby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I have enjoyed every Kimberla Lawson Roby book I have read and this one was no exception. Paige has lived in her sister Camille's shadow all her life and she is sick of it. She has devised a devious scheme to take away everything her sister loves, starting with her husband Pierce.

This was a very quick read as I couldn't wait to figure out what Paige would do next. The only criticism I have is that Camille and Pierce were just way too naive and stupid, unbelievably so. Still, a very good read.

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Source: I own this
Act Like a Lady, Think Like a Man: What Men Really Think About Love, Relationships, Intimacy, and Commitment by Steve Harvey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I know I'm a couple years late on this one, and I still haven't seen the movie, but I'm glad I finally read this. Harvey fills this relationship manual with very straight-forward advice that's very easy to read. Most of it is common sense, but it was nice to hear it from a man's perspective. I also like that he kept the little personal stories and anecdotes to a minimum and the ones that were included, were interesting to read.

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Source: Library
Fast Break by Regina Hart
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was excited to pick this book up since it combines two things I love: romance and basketball. Plus the main character, Jackie Jones, has the same name as my mother. Jackie is the new owner of her family's team, the Brooklyn Monarchs, who are the worst team in the league. She is not too happy when she finds out that Marcus, a former NBA championship player, has signed on to be the new coach. Even worse, she wonders if he is part of a plan to sabotage the team so they will have to relocate to a new city.

This one started off really slow, and I wished there had been more romance, and less of the basketball behind-the-scenes meetings. Those parts really dragged the story down, but the romantic parts with Jackie and Marcus definitely made up for it. If this is the first in a series, I look forward to reading more.

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Source: Library (although I realized after reading it, that I had also already downloaded a free copy to my Nook)
Guilty Pleasures by Donna Hill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Jake and Eva Kelly are happily married--happily married con artists, that is. They've sailed along with no problems, until one day they end up conning the wrong couple.

This is another one that I wish had been more romance and less thriller. Once I got over that part though, I did enjoy reading their antics on the cruise ship, while they tried to out-con the people after them.

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Source: Library

Review-Breaking the Tied that Bind

Breaking the Ties That Bind by Gwynne Forster
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Kendra is a 30-something woman, working a dead-end job at a restaurant. She desperately wants a career in communications and has finally scraped together enough money to enroll in college. Her main problem is her mooching mother, Ginny, who does nothing but beg Kendra for money and will go through any means to get it from her. As Kendra's career and relationship dreams start to come true, she wonders if she will ever be able to break free from Ginny or if she will always be holding her back.

I've read a few Gwynne Forster books and I've noticed they are all quite similar in that she has a very old-fashioned way of writing. The way the characters speak is really not how people of today speak and that's kind of hard to get used to while reading. The characters always seem a little too impersonal and it's hard to really feel connected to them. I didn't really connect with Kendra at all, or feel sorry for her when it came to Ginny. The romance that she has with the college professor was just kind of meh to me, as was the whole book.

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Source: Library Challenges: Outdo Yourself Challenge, Support Your Local Library

Review-The Available Wife Part 2

Available Wife Part 2 by Carla Pennington
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A few weeks ago I read The Available Wife, the prequel to this one, in which we are introduced to feisty Niquole, who is running her own record label. She is unhappily married to Germaine, and they have two young sons. She gets her needs fulfilled by having an affair with a man named Kingston, who has some secrets of his own. Niquole is definitely a character and I couldn't read fast enough to see what kind of troubles she would get herself into and how she would get out of them. The Available Wife ended with a cliffhanger, and I was glad that I was able to find and read Part 2 not too long after. This one picks up where the other one left off, and Niquole is up to her same tricks, sneaking and scheming to get what she wants, no matter what the cost. I liked this one even better than the first. Niquole hooks up with a younger man, whom I really liked her with. The whole book was great, and my only gripe was with the way it ended, since that means there will be no Part 3 and this series is complete. Definite must read.

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Source: Library Challenges: Outdo Yourself Challenge, Support Your Local Library

Review-Crush

Crush by Michele Grant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Crush is an anthology comprised of three novellas. The first, White Mocha, was written by Michele Grant, whom I've never read any of her books before. White Mocha is about a workaholic named Jayla, who begins a steamy love affair with a coffee shop owner. Although a bit predictable, I enjoyed the characters and this was the only story in this collection I liked.

The second story was Wanted: You by Lutisha Lovely, whom I've read a few books by but never been too impressed with any of them. Lois is the homely, shy, and conservative secretary of a prominent, handsome lawyer. He begins receiving erotic letters and emails, which embarrasses Lois, since she is very much in love with her boss. Throughout the story we meet a bevy of women that the letters could be from. This story started out very promisingly and I was dying to know who the letter-writer was. However, I hated the ended, so much so that it ruined the rest of the story for me.

The last story was From One Lover to Another, by Cydney Rax. I've read a few of her books and have liked them. In this story, Lorraine has recently broken up with her hip-hop, gangsta-loving, ebonics-speaking boyfriend Posse, however she hasn't been able to completely let go. She still takes his calls and thinks about him often. She starts seeing one of her coworkers Wendell, but learns that even that isn't a match made in heaven. This story was pretty boring the whole way through and I didn't like Wendell, and I definitely didn't like him with Lorraine.

All in all, this collection of short stories is a fast read, but will not leave a memorable impression at all.

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Source: Library

Challenges: Support Your Local Library, Outdo Yourself Challenge

Review Round Up

One 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 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 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

Review-New York to Dallas

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

Review-White Lines 2: Sunny

White 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

Review-Do You Take This Woman?

Do You Take This Woman? by R.M. Johnson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In this story we have Pete and Wayne who have been friends since childhood, they grew up together and call each other brothers. They end up both falling in love with the same woman, Carla. Pete saw her first, but Wayne is the one who ended up engaged to her.

However, Wayne cheats on Carla with another woman, and Pete runs to tell Carla. She then falls in love with Pete and they end up married. But that doesn't mean that Carla and Wayne are finished with each other.

This book started off very slow and I did not like any of the characters. Seriously, I thought they were all idiots and didn't understand why they would continue to participate in this little love triangle. Pete was the biggest idiot of all, since it was apparent to me that Carla never loved him, and she was better off with Wayne.

The book did pick up a bit towards the end, although it was a tad predictable. A quick read, but will leave you more frustrated than entertained.


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Source: Library

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