Jesse's Diner by Cardeno C.(LGBT) - Review

On the whole if an author is doing his/her job, not only will they tell a story that enthralls you but also induce a reaction, be it anxiety, anger, joy, tears, satisfaction…

Jesse’s Diner by Cardeno C. was so just one of those books.  It’s short, and mild, and sweet.  It’s about desire and love and relationships and the whole time I was reading I felt content and happy.  No big plot twists, no over the top violence, no lies and deceit…

You may think then what was it?

It’s a love story, and it’s family.

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Sydney Whyte

Rating Chart

«……………….A no goer

««……………Alright, but not a re-read

«««………..Liked it

««««…….Loved it

«««««…Amaze-balls – ticks all the boxes!!!

COVER REVEAL

COMING SOON

‘Faelings Doom – Interlude One’

?? December 2015

Prick Tease (Tangled Desires Book 1) by Misti Murphy - Review

Gosh, it’s been a minute or two since I read this book – life gets in the way of doing a review sometimes, but here goes…

Claire, after receiving a rather sordid shock – her fiancé, another woman (you get the picture) – heads home to her family. - We’ll call them the band of brothers. - To hide from the possible media ramifications of her leaving the swine.  She’s not sad – perhaps relieved.  I would be too.  The commitment she was making was little more than an obligation to expectation both from society and the charitable organisation she was promoting (all the wrong reasons for marrying anyone, I might add).

Anyway – enter stage right – Razer Bennington, honorary brother – unofficially adopted by her parents in his youth due to the less than desirable state of his own family life - and her long time crush.

Now that she’s back, an adult, unattached and rebelling, Claire decides it’s time to get what she’s wanted forever – him.

He’s older than her – he thinks it means something.  He’s obligated to her family for taking him in and treating him like one of them.  He’s hesitant, worried about her brother’s reactions, but really when she goes for it, he finds he can’t resist.  And so it goes.

It was fun.  I liked Claire, I liked her go get it attitude.  I liked her girlfriend, her brothers and will definitely read their stories which will undoubtedly be in the offing in the future.  They were human, loyal, flawed, you could say a bit mental in some of their behaviour or is that just because they were male?  You decide.  Razer tried to be honourable, not to give in to her ‘teasing’.  He didn’t want to offend the family that had made his youth more than just bearable, but also happy.  Such an annoying trait, I might add, but only because you wanted him to recognise that what he felt for Claire was genuine.

The characters and storyline were engaging.  While my favourite style of writing is third person, varying POV, first person in this case was acceptable because it came from both Claire and Razer.  You got to know them, what they thought, what they felt and you could definitely empathise with their struggle.

The only misstep in the writing I feel was near the end.  An encounter that happened between the two protagonists was I think a little disingenuous, and perhaps, dare I suggest it, a bit manipulative but the grand finale begged it. So, mwah, I guess you have to go with that... or not ;-)

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Sydney Whyte

Rating Chart

«……………….A no goer

««……………Alright, but not a re-read

«««………..Liked it

««««…….Loved it

«««««…Amaze-balls – ticks all the boxes!!!

Reckless by Nicole Edwards - Review

Yay, she’s back just the way I like her.  None of this intrigue, bad-boy bullshit, just a plain and simple, normal people kind of love story.  Well as normal as you can call it when one of the people is supposed to be a million - (billion – who knows) – aire.  He came across as human. Nerd be damned - he was brave and gritty, take the bull-by-the-horns confident, but not an entitled jerk.

It’s a polished offering, lacking unnecessary repetition. Reminiscent of the quality of her older series; and my favourite book of hers ever – Ethan.

Like that book it was back to the basics.  People I felt I could relate to.  I liked them.  I rooted for them to come through for each other.  To get over their fears and their phobia’s, and found myself hoping others with their own issues weren’t going to fuck it up for them too.  That means Nicole succeeded.  I was an invested reader.

By the way, I loved Milly! (Sorry - my favourite character, actually).  Go her – she was a hero.

Dare I say it though; I do have one gripe, however.

The name of the book is 'Reckless'.  I’m sorry, I just didn’t see it.  Cam is apparently reckless but being told that he is, isn’t as good as actually living it.  I got to feel Gannon’s fear loud and clear because we got to experience it with him, but not Cam.  I wanted to know why he was ‘reckless’, how he was ‘reckless’, there with him when he was being ‘reckless’.  It just didn’t happen.  Was he reckless with his life?  Was he reckless with other people?  Was he reckless with his emotions or his friends feelings?

The feeling I got was that he was meant to be a daredevil, but, sorry, flying through the water on a jet ski doesn’t cut the mustard – hundreds of people do it and don’t get that title.  Even implying that there is going to be skydiving at some future time didn't convince me that the man takes his life in his hands enough to earn such a moniker.  One actual scene of 'reckless daredeviling' where I got to feel his rush of adrenaline or whatever, and that would probably have been enough to make it more believable.

Other than that it was a perfect start to the series.  As I said, I’m invested; in the people, their families, their friends.  I’m definitely looking forward to catching up with them again.

««««1/2

Sydney Whyte

Rating Chart

«……………….A no goer

««……………Alright, but not a re-read

«««………..Liked it

««««…….Loved it

«««««…Amaze-balls – ticks all the boxes!!!

Not a Children's Bedtime Story!

Just thought I'd share a little 'Adult' Humor - such a cute and 'accurate' story

Cheers

Sydney

Luke: A Westbend Saints Romance by Sabrina Paige - Review

Included with this version of the above book which was number three in the Westbend Saints series was the first ‘Elias’ and the second ‘Silas’, Luke’s younger identical twin brothers.

While I enjoyed each read, bar from a few variations, each book seemed to follow a similar pattern.  Boy meets girl or the other way around if you like.  They are either newly acquainted or reacquainting depending on the variation for that book.  They have an overpowering desire for each other, despite rubbing each other up the wrong way for many and varying reasons, that though they might fight it, they obviously can’t.  They spend a number of weeks hiding out and forgetting reality which soon comes to bite them in the bum and they inevitably fall apart.  But also inevitably (it is a romance after all), they get back together for that romantic happy ending.  Throw in the guys’ bad-boy status’s, a judgmental small town, a murder mystery, a scheming corporation and scammers (in this case, the good guys) and wholla, you have the series in a nutshell.

Despite there being a few annoying editing errors, eg forgetting which brother was under the microscope at the time and using the wrong name (very annoying), on the whole it was inoffensive and a pleasant enough experience.  I found I liked the brothers, though they were all relatively similar (that could happen, they are brothers after all, and there were enough differences to make it okay - I especially liked the dirty talk that they all got into), and I liked their prospective others, they were interesting, and sharp-witted, intelligent and kind of believable.

This might go in the ‘read again’ pile depending on my mood and what else is available.  And just for shits and giggles, I might even try another of this author’s books from a different series.

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Sydney Whyte

Rating Chart

«……………….A no goer

««……………Alright, but not a re-read

«««………..Liked it

««««…….Loved it

«««««…Amaze-balls – ticks all the boxes!!!

Dream of You: A Wait For You Novella by Jennifer L. Armentrout - Review

Compared to what I have recently been reading, this little novella was very tame and very sweet despite it being one of the 1001 DARK Nights monthly novella releases.  Supposedly, kind of dark, kind of edgy little romances with a bit of spicy bedroom action.

Yes there was a murder, witnessed by our reluctant heroine which of course led her into the sights of our dashing hero and long ago acquaintance of Abby Erickson’s, Colton Anders - Detective.  They had been at High School together, not unnoticed by each other but certainly untouched.  Abby was with her childhood sweetheart who she later married.

But then tragedy struck several blows and Abby, an editor of naughty novels, found herself alone.

After her harrowing episode with said murderer, Abby finds herself being seduced by various forms of pastry and one persistent detective, taking ‘protecting the witness’ to new levels.

This novella was peopled with refreshingly normal characters, a woman with a self-esteem issue – a little overweight, but really nothing out of the ordinary; and a very nice, handsome, gentlemanly man who was trying very hard to woo her.

As I said, it was sweet and sometimes that’s what you need.  Of course there were bumps in the rocky road to true love, misunderstandings etc as well as the (not really unexpected) return of said murderer at a moment when she was alone and vulnerable, but she proved to herself that she was brave and courageous, a modern woman that deserved what she wanted.

Jennifer Armentrout showed a deep understanding of female insecurities with body image and created characters easy to like and relate to.  In those moments when I need a nice, light look at romance I think I’d definitely reach for another one of her novels.

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Sydney Whyte

Rating Chart

«……………….A no goer

««……………Alright, but not a re-read

«««………..Liked it

««««…….Loved it

«««««…Amaze-balls – ticks all the boxes!!!