SEAL for Her Protection

by Paige Tyler
Book 1 of SEALs of Coronado

So... this wasn't the Romantic Suspense slash Contemporary Romance I'd been anticipating, especially after having already read some books by Paige Tyler and enjoying them a lot.  And the truth is, obviously I wasn't really sure what exactly I'd been expecting.

Honestly, this book was kind of boring.  The romance was kind of juvenile (I know there is sexy times, but that doesn't mean it can't come off juvenile), and also kind of banal.  There were details of Hayley and Chasen's first date that felt unnecessary, down to all the smoldering looks and the whole "I know and understand your thoughts just by looking into your gorgeous eyes" development.  Oh yes, and the exact descriptions of what the two were eating, drinking, and wearing.  Maybe I'm just not as romantic as I should be, seeing as I'm a hopeless romantic for fictional romance novels...

The the plot circled back to the Romantic Suspense part of the story and started getting kind of convoluted by the end hour scenes...  I totally didn't see that surprise twist coming, and I'm not sure I really liked it or felt it was necessary.  Although it DID add some intrigue to the book, if only the build up had been a bit more on par with the sudden turn of events.  To be honest, it felt kind of out of place, and, in contrast, the main conflict seemed a bit rushed in its resolution.

So be it.  This was a short enough read that I got through it rather quickly and painlessly.  Paige Tyler's writing isn't terrible and I've enjoyed other books by her, as I've mentioned above.  There's always bound to be one I may not like, right?

Carnal Gift

by Pamela Clare
Book 2 of Blakewell/Kenleigh Family trilogy

Carnal Gift wasn't much different from Sweet Release in terms of angst and content matter, to be honest.  While the story was quite different, we didn't stray far from the whole formula of the villain wanting to force the heroine into bed with him, and the hero being the hero and saving the heroine's life over and over again.  Meanwhile, we also revisit the whole "hero and heroine are forbidden to be together" device, although this time around, I think that the romance faced more tangible barriers based on law and religion, and other societal and cultural conflicts.  In contrast, Sweet Release needed only to prove that Alec Kenleigh was Alec Kenleigh and all was well, and Happily Ever After.

That doesn't mean that I didn't see the similarities in the two story lines, which made it a little hard to enjoy this book as much as I was maybe meant to.  It didn't escape my notice that this book (and now that I think about it, even Sweet Release), seemed to be written in an "epic saga romance" type of light.  The truth is, I'm not sure if it managed to do that.

On the other hand, it's not like I didn't enjoy this book.  Pamela Clare's writing has this way of pulling you right in.  Whether it's her writing style or just that sense of righteousness that emanates from her main characters, I always find that I can't put her books down.  I DID love the detail given to the Gaelic culture and history.  While some of it felt too deliberately placed, I still found some of it interesting.

Unfortunately, the characters didn't really do anything for me.  While I found young Jamie in the first book quite charming for a four year old boy, adult Jamie in this book is kind of a jackass.  Brighid was a typical standard damsel in distress, and I honestly don't have much to say about her.  Brighid's brothers weren't really all that likable, both because they never seemed to understand how much danger and trouble they were in, and put their own pride before everyone else's lives.  It was quite frustrating.

I liked Matthew and Elizabeth enough as the parental figures in the story, but they didn't really appear a whole lot.

Then there was the standard Pamela Clare repetitive exposition fairy conversations that I've gotten used to seeing in many of her books.  Her characters just can't seem to help but to keep talking about the events that occurred to everyone they come across.  These don't really bug me as much, but I found it interesting that this wasn't really a thing in Sweet Release.

Still, I was entertained and found myself finishing the book pretty quickly.

Well... I hadn't expected to finish reading SEAL for Her Protection so quickly, but it was a pretty bite-sized book, just barely crossing the 200 page line.  According to my Kindle edition, it's noted at 234 pages, but the book actually ends at 217 pages... although Goodreads lists it as 208 pages.  Either way, it's more than 200 pages, so I'm going to make it count.  Especially since finishing it so quickly had nothing to do with it being any good... quite the opposite, really, but we'll get to that in my review at a later time.

Meanwhile, my next roll landed me on Square 18: "Set in a school."

To tell you all the truth, I wasn't all that thrilled to land on this square, because the only kind of books I can think of guaranteed to take place in a school are either YA books or New Adult.  I don't read New Adult, and I wasn't feeling any desire to read YA.  I thought for sure that I'd have to just give in and read any random book from my "set reading list of the moment," and then just roll one die afterward.

But never let it be known that I'm not too stubborn for my own good!  I actually found TWO books I'd be interested in reading.  Unfortunately, my first choice, Broken Girls by Simone St. James, isn't really available to me at the moment unless I want to dish out $11.99 for the Kindle edition.  I'm not sure any e-book is ever worth that kind of money... even if I've dished out that kind of cash for e-books in the past.  But I was super excited that Broken Girls sounded like it took place in a school, only to be disappointed that I had no access... and I'm not likely to wait for library availability before moving on, because I NEEDZ to roll again!

So in my continued stubborn quest to find another possible book, I stumbled across Gail Carriger's Etiquette & Espionage and found the stirrings of interest hitting me.  Young Adult book though it is, I think I like the idea of the basis of this "finishing school" where young ladies "learn the fine arts of dance, dress, and etiquette, but they also learn to deal out death, diversion, and espionage--in the politest possible ways."

I'll be starting Etiquette & Espionage as soon as I finish reading Ride the Fire, which is my first priority right now.  Meanwhile, I also need to finish reading Thunder on the Right because the book is due to be turned into the library pretty soon... and I'm sort of out of renewals.  Le sigh...  It might be a while before I get to roll again, but maybe I'll have at least two books in my arsenal for future use!

Currently Reading

 

Books Read Pending Square Selection

None yet.

My Progress

Dates for each dice roll corresponds with respective update post.
Book titles link to reviews if written.
Completed books' covers (read and used for squares) following table.

Sweet Release

by Pamela Clare
Book 1 of Blakewell/Kenleigh Family trilogy

Pamela Clare books never cease to be addictive for me because of the fact that they're often well-written and contain a lot of heart.  I'm more familiar with Pamela's contemporary series, and will usually devour them in one read through.

Sweet Release was no exception, although there were some parts where I wished the book would either get on with it, or stop creating so much added drama towards the end--a lot of the ending felt a bit deliberate in creating more suspense than necessary.  I feel like, maybe a whole lot more went on in this book than was actually necessary.  And while I thoroughly enjoyed myself reading this book and got hooked, I really didn't have any strong feelings towards the two main characters, one way or another.

I DID feel like Cassie was more shrill than I liked, and was inconsistent in her behavior.  Some moments she would show some backbone and stand up for what she believed in, other times she would back down and let others walk all over her.  It got frustrating, and it's not like I expected her to HAVE too much of a backbone and stand up to the men in the book--this is a historical taking place in the 1700s after all where women were treated no better than chattel, and any kind of attempt at back talk or expressing opinions either got belittled or reprimanded.  But I still wish she could have been a bit more consistent.

Alec had his moments, but came off a bit of an ass.

In contrast, I loved all the background characters much more than the main characters.

This is probably the first time I've read a historical taking place during this time frame, set in the Americas when slavery was so prominent.  I can't say one way or another whether the historical aspects were handled properly or accurately (history was never my best subject), but it certainly managed to bring to surface how terrible people were treated, based on class, gender, and race.

Story wise, I was truly only interested in finding out how Alec would reclaim his real identity, though it didn't take a lot of sleuthing to know who was behind his abduction in the first place.  The rest of the story got super angsty, and even the main villain of the story felt kind of comic.

Overall, this could have been a better book, even if I DID get hooked into it and finished it in pretty much one sitting.

I almost didn't make it (mainly because I forgot), but with an hour left of Monday, here's my 'It's Monday!' update!

With a new reading game starting up, I'm hoping to have more books read per week, maybe...  I won't push myself, but the need to roll a set of dice in order to receive a prompt for the next book I'm to read is quite strong.  So... yay for BookLikes Snakes and Ladders!

What I Read Last Week

What I'm Currently Reading

What I'm Planning to Read Next

Other Plans On the Blog

With March coming up at the end of the week, I'm planning on starting the next Flat Book Society read, Furry Logic.  I've got the book in my possession and I'm ready to roll!  Meanwhile, with a new month comes a new set of books to read for Reading Assignment--Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld will be one of the next books to read for this challenge.  I'll be listening to the audio book version, narrated by Alan Cumming, and I'm totally looking forward to it!

There may or may not be updates along the way.

Meanwhile, I'm hoping to finish the last book of the Blakewell/Kenleigh Family trilogy, and so a few more reviews will be on the way.

And just as well, we'll be seeing some more updates, because I'm sure to finish SEAL for Her Protection in time to roll at least once more before the end of the week for BookLikes Snakes and Ladders.