Fiction Friday

Welcome to the first Fiction Friday post of 2017.

This Christmas I received a shiny new notebook from my Secret Santa. What does this have to do with Fiction Friday? Well, I’ve decided to use it to keep a written reading journal. This way I’ll be able to keep a log of not just what I read but why I picked that particular book at that particular time. It’ll also give me somewhere other than my extensive TBR shelf at GR to list books I stumble across that I ‘really want to read NOW’ and then promptly forget about by the time I’ve finished my current read.

So what’s graced the first page? 

My reading plan for January. Excuse my scrappy writing…

And the first book I read in 2017 was…

Murder Between the Pages by Josh Lanyon. Yes, I know it doesn’t meet any requirements of my reading plan but, hey ho. It's historical and a mystery (of the golden age variety) with two antagonistic leads. Why wouldn't I read this? I can't wait for this to be released in audiobook. 

Back on track:

Romancing the Wrong Twin by Clare London. Oh, I loved this. The humour, the writing, the characters. I mean, who can resist a gruff adventurer type. And the secondary characters were a delight as well. I’d love a ficlet/short where Simon gets his man. I’m desperate to get this in audio but I’ve already listened to the sample and it’s an American narrator for two British characters. Dreamspinner, why do you do this to us? I will buy the audio anyway because, Clare London! But there must be British narrators working in the States.

Alpha Barman by Sue Brown. Testosterone Central. A team of Alphas. A rundown bar. Revenge. And a jilted lover as protector. I enjoyed the story and pacing. However, I had a few issues with Jake but I loved Mitch and I think he should have made Jake work at that apology.

The two books I was determined to read finished in the first week. Excellent. Next up…

A book by Megan Derr. And the one I picked was actually something quite different to her fantasy/fairy tale stories. Locke and Key is a collection of three stories set in the same ‘verse connected by the family of hunters. Locke and Key was probably my favourite, the gruff Locke and Key, his partner in everything but sex (although not for want of trying on Key’s part), slaying the low level vamps in perfect harmony until Locke throws a hissy fit.  Sharing stars Locke’s brother Preston, who is less vampire hunter and more in charge of diplomatic relations to the top vamps. But three of his charges are interested in relations of a different kind. I felt this was the start of a longer story. I was intrigued by the relationship and curious how Preston’s family would react. The Housekeeper stared Richard, a top vamp from the previous story, but is told from the POV of his housekeeper, Trevor, who has been pining over his boss forever. I had a tear in my eye while reading this at one point. Overall a great little collection. 

An Admirer by Megan Derr. Now this is what I would call typical Megan Derr. Sweet secret admirer story with magic. Endearing characters and world building that never intrudes on the story.

I've made a decision this year not to purchase a new book in a series unless I have at least read/started the first book. So I've broken off from my reading challenge three times already this month to read stories that aren't on the list. Twice I've bought the new book, the other time I saved myself the price of the next two books in the series. It may only have been a saving of $2.40 but that's two other sale books I can buy and, more importantly, two less books on my TBR pile. I'll let you know about the two books where I bought the follow ups in my next post.