Reading Plan - March

Yes, a lot of these title are carried over from February.

To finish:
Jack of Thorns by Amelia Faulkner
Ghost Star Night by Nicole Kimberling

Focus reads:
I'll Be Your Drill, Soldier by Crystal Rose
Hexmaker by Jordan L Hawk
Loving Hector by John Inman

Books by John Inman
Books by Jordan L Hawk
Books beginning with I
Books beginning with H
Books beginning with L

Bluewater Bay:
When to Hold them by GB Gordon
Rain Shadow by LA Witt
How the Cookie Crumbles by Jamie Samms

Next in series:
Stormin Norman by Sue Brown (Bk 4 & finish)
He's Behind You by Rebecca Cohen (Bk 3 & finish)
Threshold by Jordon L Hawk (Bk 2)
Us by Sarina Bowen (Bk 2 & finish)

Now if all publishers could please remain in business I might meet the challenges this month.

Reading Round Up - February

As you may have seen in my previous post my reading plans were scuppered by the announcement that Samhain were closing on 28th February. Regardless, let's see how I did.

Focus books:
Duty to the Crown & Forever Hold his Peace by Rebecca Cohen. Read.
Hexmaker and I'll be your Drill, Soldier have been transferred to next month.

Theme books read:
Rebecca Cohen titles - 2 plus a beta read
Jordan L Hawk titles - 0
John Inman titles - 0
Books beginning with D - 3
Books beginning with H - 5
Series finished - Jewel Bonds by Megan Derr
Bluewater Bay reads - 1
Off list reads - 5 (these were mostly Samhain publishing books.)
Currently reading (books I started in Jan and carried over) - 2 (Jack of Thorns by Amelia Faulkner and Ghost Star Night Nicole Kimberling)
DNFs - 2
Comics (collections not issues) - 3
Fanfic - 2

Total read - 20
Not a bad haul for February. FYI one of those DNFs was a really popular book in the genre. Never be afraid to give up just because everyone else loves it!

Reading plan - February

The title doesn't lie this is my reading plan for February.

To finish:
Jack of Thorns by Amelia Faulkner
Astounding by Kim Fielding

Focus reads:
Duty to the crown by Rebecca Cohen (followed by Forever Hold his Peace)
Hexmaker by Jordan L Hawk

Books by Rebecca Cohen
Books by Jordan L Hawk
Books beginning with D
Books beginning with H

Loving Hector by John Inman

Blueswater Bay:
The Deep of the Sound by Amy Lane
When to Hold them by GB Gordon
Rain Shadow by LA Witt

Next in series:
Stormin Norman by Sue Brown (Bk 4 & finish)
He's Behind You by Rebecca Cohen (Bk 3 & finish)
Threshold by Jordon L Hawk (Bk 2)
Us by Sarina Bowen (Bk 2 & finish)
Kiss the Rain by Megan Derr (Bk 2)

Optimistic I think, especially since at the time of writing Samhain have just announced they are closing at the end of the month and under my new purchasing restrictions (in a pointless attempt to control my TBR pile) there are at least 4 books that need to be read before I commit to buy the sequels and only two week to do that in. And I have a book to beta by the 24th, which obviously isn't on this list.

Reading Round-up - January

As you know if you've been following this blog I set myself a reading plan for January. Time to see how I did.

Focus books:
Alpha Barman by Sue Brown and Romancing the Wrong Twin by Clare London. Read them both.

Theme books read:
Dreamspun Desire titles - 1
Sue Brown titles - 2
Megan Derr titles - 3
Books beginning with R - 1
Books beginning with A - 9
Sue Brown series - none finished but made progress on 1
Off list reads - 6 (these were mostly because next book in series was on sale and my resolution is to stop buying recklessly.)
Currently reading (books I started in Jan and carried over) - 2 (Jack of Thorns by Amelia Faulkner and Astounding by Kim Fielding)
DNFs - 3
Comics (collections not issues) - 3
Fanfic - 2

Total read - 19
Not a bad haul for January. I should probably keep a log of how many I bought, but I'm not that brave!

Fiction Friday is back

So, according to this blog (and I have no reason to doubt it) my last FF post was on 1st July!

Also according to Goodreads I've hit 150 m/m books this year.

Must have loads to report this month then, it's been nearly six weeks after all.

Erm, no, I've been reading a lot of fanfiction, mostly Teenwolf and Merlin. I particularly enjoyed  The Lonely King by Cori Lannam.

I've also read a fair few of those freebies that you pick up from Amazon all the time and then clutter up your TBR pile forever. Sometimes you can pick up a good one, most of this batch weren't worth reading but I did enjoy The Dystopia Spell (Multiverse Mashup Book 1) by Brian Olsen.

But what have I read and enjoyed?

Not Quite Shakespeare - a Dreamspinner anthology of stories with a British feel. There are some excellent stories in this anthology by some of my favourite authors. These were my favourites:
Ninety-nine Problems by Becky Black - 4* Loved this story of feuding ice-cream families.
Chanctonbury Ring by Sarah Madison -4* Excellent second chance at love story.
Wrong Number by Megan Reddaway - 3.5* Amusing story about a guy who drunk dials his boss. It's predictable but fun.
In the DogHouse by Chris Quinton - 4.5* love this story of second chance love. And greyhounds. And shady gangster types.
Rough Tackle by Annabelle Jacobs - 4* Cute.
The Jacobite by Bette Brown - 3.5*
Tops Down, Bottoms Up by Jay Northcote - 5* Morris dancing! LOL. Loved it.

More Than Anything by T.T. Kove - 4* Uh huh. This book had me a sobbing mess from about the 75% mark. Note to self: Don't forget to read the sequel.

Rustic Melody (Rustic #1) by Nic Starr - 4* A lovely gentle story.

The Gilded Scarab by Anna Butler - 5* Loved this historical action adventure set in a steampunk version of 'Victorian' London so much that I begged the author for a sequel only to discover there is one already in the works. Yay!

And the book that took me to that GR 150 Reading Challenge,

How to Howl at the Moon (Howl at the Moon #1) by Eli Easton - 5* This book is just the cutest thing. I love Lance, the gruff stoic cop, who is hiding a furry secret,

Update on my challenge to read a book by all of the attending authors at the UK Meet this year: 43/65. I don't think I'll manage the whole challenge but it's not too bad an achievement.

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 DiscontentedWinter. Teenwolf fanfic.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.