Friday 8 April 2016

Fiction Friday - The ABC challenge

You know me and my varied methods for choosing what book to read. This month it's the alphabet, and not just that but the first unread book in each letter that appears on my paperwhite (Kindle 2). Because it's an alphabet challenge I'm going to list all books read:good, bad, or indifferent.

No. - 587,687 (Little) Words by Kathleen Hayes. Free read from the m/m group on Goodreads for Love is an Open Road. Kidnapping and secret agents.
A - A Man of Unusual Talent by Lee Brazil. This story was so much fun
B - Ball & Chain by Markus Anders. Another free download. DNF'd.
C - Cain Ranch: Chapter One (Cain Ranch #1) - by A.C. Gaddis. Another free download. Serial fiction. This was simply chapter 1 and it didn't grab me enough to invest any further.
D - Damon Snow and the Nocturnal Lessons (Damon Snow #1) by Olivia Helling. Another free download and going by the last two reads I didn't hold out much hope. I was wrong. I really enjoyed this, so much so that the next three books have been added to my wishlist. Historical rent boys. 4 stars.
E - Eagle Man and Mr Hawk by Dawn Sister. Free read from the m/m group on Goodreads for Love is an Open Road. An animal trainer/wildlife rescuer and a book loving recluse what more could you want. And it was all going so well until Chapter 19. I still gave it 4 stars because up until that point I was thoroughly charmed. And it did claw a little of that charm back but ch 19 left me with an unpleasant after-taste. 
F - Fairytales Slashed 1 by Megan Derr. A thoroughly enjoyable collection of fairytales that have been given a slant of gay romance. 4 stars.
G - Fred and Ginger by Isobel Starling. For some reason this came up on my Kindle as G & F, hence why it was read for G. I should have taken that as a sign. Another free download.
H - Hale Sandwich by Steterek - Stiles/Derek/Peter. It's exactly what it says on the box. 4 stars.
I - I.C.E by JenNova. Teenwolf fanfic. H/C
J - Jack Gets What's Coming To Him by Mike Enfield. I'm a great believer of 'if you haven't got anything nice to say then don't say anything at all'.  DNF'd 32%
K - Kaden's Colors by Ryan Loveless. I struggled with this book. I think it was a case of the book trying to be too many different things. It felt like it should be YA but the non-con aspect (which didn't feel like it was truly addressed) took it out of that market. 
L - L. A. Masquerade by G.A. Hauser. You need to have read the series the characters are from, otherwise it's just confusing. Far too many povs of people you don't have a clue about.
M - M/M Historical Erotica Bundle by Livya Wilde. *sigh* Why do I do this to myself?
N - Nail Polish and Feathers (Deep Secrets and Hope #1) by Jo Ramsey. I'm afraid this didn't grab me the way others seemed to have enjoyed it. A lot of people whose opinions I value have loved this book though. Maybe I'm just too much of a tomboy to appreciate the make-up and fashion talk. 
O - Jungle Jim by P.J. Nevada. It came up on my Kindle as o 22becd0f3bc91503 (just to explain why I read this book for the letter O). Honestly, I wish I hadn't. Why? "My eight inch cut meat tube says otherwise." That's why.
P - The Pack or the Panther (Tales of the Harker Pack #1) by Tara Lain. Pretty much standard shifter fare with a wolf and a panther. 
Q - The Quality of Mercy by J.S. Cook. **5 big fat stars.** Why doesn't this story have more reviews? Excellent, historical short read (less than an hour) about a prisoner who is let out of jail in the care of a federal agent to visit his dying mother. The story is more than it seems and I can't say much more than that without giving the twists away. **Highly recommended.**
R - Rainbow Reader RED: Awakening (Rainbow Reader #1) by Adam Stevens. Despite a handful of good reviews for this story I'm afraid it was a dnf for me. Another freebie.
S - Sacrati by Kate Sherwood. This book is long but you'd never have known it the way I devoured every single wonderful word. Loved it. Another 5* read.
T - Take Me Away: A Gay Romance (Possession Book 1) by Aiden Lovely. DNF. 26%
U - Unbreak My Heart by K-lee Klein. A romantic read. Cowboys/ranchers. City boy out of water. Lost love. Heartbreaking letters. 4 stars. Unfortunately this book and its sequels were all published by Amber and out of print as at the 1st April. Good new is the first book has been picked up by Dreamspinner so will make a reappearance soon.
V - Valentine Delights - Anthology from Love Lane Books. A solid collection of mostly cute stories as you'd expect from a Valentine themed anthology.
W - The Wages of Sin by Alex Beecroft. 4 stars. Excellent historical, ghostly horror story that managed to chill the blood and warm the heart at the same time. In the blurb at the end Alex asked if readers would like to read more stories of Charles and Jasper's adventures. The answer from this reader is a resounding yes.
X - Xander's Game (Gay Taboo Household Fantasy) by Lance Abrusco. PWP and little else. The stepfather thing creeped me out as he had raised Xander until he was three. 
Y - Yaoi Love: Short Story Collection by James Lancy. Free read. Collection of short stories. I made it through the first story *pats self on back* Do you see a pattern here? DNF.
Z - Zigazig Ah by frek. Teenwolf fanfic

So as a concept this didn't really work to provide me with a bunch of great reads. It's got rid of a whole load of freebies off my Kindle.
Only two 5 star reads. 11 I liked enough to link. 5 DNFs but 8 deleted immediately from my Kindle.
Next challenge: books by authors attending the UK Meet. I could cheat and start off with authors I know I love but I won't. I'm going to read authors I've not read before first, so that come September I've read/attempted at least one book by all 60 plus authors. I may alternate this with a series challenge.

2 comments:

  1. I admire you for your ability to choose books like that...I tend to choose books based on what mood I'm in and what I feel like reading at the moment...obv this can be problematic at times...bec sometimes I pick a book and am NOT in the mood so back I go to the drawing board...

    E. Well what happened in Chapter 19????

    OMG you had a lot of DNF's this time... /o\ why is it that the free reads mostly turn out to be bad? :((((



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    Replies
    1. Picking like this means I can't wangle my way out of reading. Sometimes I get some real gems that way.
      A real WTF female hating moment just to get the characters to split up.
      Most free reads are self published and by its very nature a percentage of that is utter dross. People that don't think they need beta readers. Equally there are some excellent self-published stories that are very professionally done.
      Lillian (for some reason my phone isn't letting me log in!)

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