I came across a 4.5 star review for Theory Unproven on Goodreads the other day. Now, normally I would do a little fist pump and move on. But this review was eloquent, well thought out, and perfectly presented and I pegged the reader as a more than casual reviewer. So after much deliberation I dropped Tina a message and enquired if she reviewed for a particular site so that I could comfortably share her review.
Turns out she doesn't anymore but she did give me permission to share her review with you all and directed me to where the review is stored on Leafmarks. The full review can be found on Leafmarks but here some of my favourite parts.
"Both characters are just wonderfully elaborated, and they have this freaking hot chemistry, despite all the things popping up to mess with them. Lillian Francis did a wonderful job of conveying the heart and soul of these two guys, and when the heat turns up, it gets damn hot! It’s either slow and romantic, rough and steamy, or smoking hot and passionate."
"Lillian’s writing is powerful, gripping, emotional and captivating, she creates enticing characters and a sexy, emotionally charged story line."
"I lived within the story, I felt the South African heat, smelled the elephants and tasted the dust on my tongue, I laughed, smiled and cursed with the guys. How they managed to overcome their challenges to form a deep and everlasting love and build such a strong relationship touched me deeply."
"Highly recommended for those who share my love for the beautiful African continent... and want a well done, sweet, funny, suspenseful and delicious romance without too much angst."
Raining Men by Rick R Reed
Sequel to Chaser
The character you loved to hate in Chaser becomes the character you will simply love in Raining Men.
It’s been raining men for most of Bobby Nelson’s adult life. Normally, he wouldn’t have it any other way, but lately something’s missing. Now, he wants the deluge to slow to a single special drop. But is it even possible for Bobby to find “the one” after endless years of hooking up?
When Bobby’s father passes away, Bobby finally examines his rocky relationship with the man and how it might have contributed to his inability to find the love he yearns for. Guided by a sexy therapist, a Sex Addicts Anonymous group, a well-endowed Chihuahua named Johnny Wadd, and Bobby’s own cache of memories, Bobby takes a spiritual, sexual, and emotional journey to discover that life’s most satisfactory love connections lie in quality, not quantity. And when he’s ready to love not only himself but someone else, sex and love fit, at last, into one perfect package.
This is not a love story. It's the journey of a man. There is a romance of sorts but it more than takes the backburner to Bobby's growth, in fact it all but happens off the page.
If you read Chaser and hated Bobby for his actions, then you have to read this book. There are numerous sex scenes but Rick R Reed in no way included them for titillation. They will leave you hollow and empty inside.
I know you won't believe me, those of you that still hold on to the memory of the deplorable way Bobby behaved in Chaser, but your heart will ache for the man that you thought you hated. Not once, but time and time again.
5/5
Somebody Killed his Editor - Josh Lanyon
The road back to bestsellerdom can be deadly.
Holmes & Moriarity, Book 1
Thanks to an elderly spinster sleuth and her ingenious cat, Christopher Holmes has enjoyed a celebrated career as a bestselling mystery writer. Until now. Sales are down and his new editor is allergic to geriatric gumshoes.
On the advice of his agent, he reinvents his fortyish, frumpy, recently dumped self into the sleek, sexy image of a literary lion, and heads for a Northern California writers conference to try and resurrect his career. A career nearly as dead as the body he stumbles over in the woods.
In a weirdly déjà vu replay of one of his own novels, he finds himself stranded in an isolated lodge full of frightened women—and not a lawman in sight. Except for J.X. Moriarity, former cop and bestselling novelist. The man with whom he shared a one-night stand—okay, maybe three—long ago. The man who wants to arrest him for murder.
A ruthless, stalking killer, or a hot, handsome ex-lover. Which poses the greater danger? It’s elementary, my dear Holmes!
Witty, mystery story which pokes fun at all manner of things to do with writers and publishing. I crushed on this book so hard when I read it, didn't think it could be improved upon. But I was wrong...the audio book is brilliant. Kevin R Free does an amazing job of bringing Kit and JX to life. Kit comes across in turns as insecure, confused, and frustrated, and JX, well, JX is damn sexy and just a little mysterious.
If I could give this 6/5 I would.
Hey, this is my blog... 6/5
Following on from my last post I have February's reads.
Series: I finished the Lang Downs series by Ariel Tachna. I only had the one book left to read in this series, Conquer the Flames (Lang Downs #4) - 4 stars. Revisiting Lang Downs is like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket and meeting up with your favourite people (not that I often wear a blanket for that.) I know what to expect and Ariel Tachna doesn't disappoint. It's been a while since this book was published (2013) so I'm not holding out much hope for a fifth book but I can always read them again :)
Anthology: Brit Boys: On Boys - 4 stars. Of the 8 stories I had: 1 x 5 star, 2 x 4 stars, 4 x 3/3.5 stars and a DNF. It should come as no surprise to anyone that knows me that Locked out was my favourite (and the 5 star read) since it is written by Josephine Myles.
For the rest of my reads this month I tried to finish as many of the Love's Landscapes stories that I had missed when they originally came out as I could. This made for a mixed bag of results, as you can imagine, and I still didn't manage to finish them all.
Read: 24
5 star: none!
4 star: (including the 2 listed above) 7
DNF: 5
And I read one one the oldest books on my TBR - Clouds and Rain (Clouds and Rain #1) by Zahra Owens
Yes, it appears I have already fallen foul of my plans for regular blog posts, namely the 'What I read last month' feature. I think the problem is that it takes some time to collate the information into a format I can use easily here. So my plan going forward is to highlight my favourite book or books of the previous week and to post on fridays (I already have a Fiction Friday tag I can reappropriate).
In the meantime I'm going to run through my reading for January and February in this post.
I think I mentioned my intention for this year was to clear a lot of books on my TBR pile including finishing one series a month and reading at least one anthology.
January
Series: Tyack & Frayne by Harper Fox
For this I read: Tinsel Fish, Don't Let Go, & Kitto All the books got 4 stars. The characters, pairing, and settings all got a strong 5 stars from me but I had to deduct a star because each story in some way focused on abuse which made for uncomfortable reading at times.
Anthology: Sindustry Vol 1 - 4 stars. Stories ranged from 4.5 to 2 stars.
Favourites: The Four Seasons by Diana Copland, A Muse by Zahra Owens, Stripped Bare by S. Blaise.
In total I read 18 books
5 stars: Only 1
4 stars: (including the 4 mentioned above) 8
DNFs: none!
Books with a 4+ rating on GR & I had eagerly
anticipated reading but found lacking: 1
5 stars
Simple Gifts by LB Gregg
4 stars
Dear Alex by Clare London
The Gentleman and the Lamplighter by Summer Devon
A Case of Spirits (A Charm of Magpies, #2.5) by KJ Charles
Chaser by Rick R Reed (My first RRReed and typing this has just reminded me that I had intended to read the sequel almost immediately. Bumped up my TBR pile.)
This is already quite a large post so I'm going to list February's reads under a seperate entry.
Jay Northcote introduced me to this great site called picmonkey. It's a free photo editing site and it's really easy to use.
I posted one promo photo on Facebook the other day. This was made up from my FB banner and a quote from a review.
I also tried to make some using my book cover. Here's one using a quote from the book.
What do you think?
Do you consider it as an effective as a way of promoting a book?
Just a quick note to let you know that the rights to Lovers Entwined have now reverted back to me.
As of the 14th March the book will no longer be available from Ellora's Cave and should be removed from third party sites over the next few days.
I'm currently considering whether to self publish this title. If it is something you were hoping to purchase please bear with me, I will make a decision in the next few weeks.
for the last stop on the blog tour, Because Two Men are Better Than One.
For this final stop I'm discussing what you do when stumbling across unfamilar words and how readers prefer the author to deal with such things.
The giveaway link is still active for anyone that hasn't entered yet. You've got another couple of days. Go on, what have you got to lose.
And I'm over at UK Gay Romance discussing Pinterest and how I discovered its uses--and downfalls--while writing Theory Unproven.
Pop on over there and let me know about any online tools you use for your writing, reading, or other hobbies.
