Izzy Simon accepts a 2 week assignment to assist a children’s book author. He’s the gruff to her cheerfulness. She eventually starts to wear on him and he finds himself bending a little bit to her ways.

I really wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, it reminded me very much like a book I read about a year ago. Same set up, situation, and personalities. Because of that, it made it very hard for me to get into it.

**I voluntarily read and reviewed this book

As a reader, for me the stories that are the most memorable are the ones that thrive on simplicity. Whether it be a nod to a favorite classic tale or an inclusion of a few of my favorite subjects, what appeals to me most is that the tale is realistic and the characters can make me as a reader stop and take notice. The Bookworm and the Beast fit all my criteria for wonderful reading. Izzy and Derek are relatable individualLy and as a couple. In times of frustration and despair is when a person is at their strongest. With a little time, a lot of love and a bit of holiday magic, Ms. James captures more than the imagination, she puts the emotions on notice as well.

Here are great books I read in 2016 but that were not published during that year. 

 

I am always looking for more wonderful books. Please share your favorite reads of the year with me! 

 

In no particular order... 

 

1. The Milch Bride: by J.R. BIERY

 

A good historical western is hard to find and this one is very compelling with all the best elements of the genre. 

 

2. The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen

 

This whole series was beyond great and I power read it. 

 

3. Takes Two to Tackle by Jeanette Murray

 

Wonderful sports romance. 

 

4. Louder Than Love  by Jessica Topper

 

Gah. 5 Stars. Rock Star Romance with grown people. This book. Yes.

 

5. Stealing Mercury by Charlee Allden

 

Great Science Fiction Romance World building Gladiator style. 

 

6. Kulti by Mariana Zapata

 

5 Stars. I have already reread it 3 times. The best slow burn. 

 

7. His Christmas Gift by Sarah Mayberry and Three Nights before Christmas by Kat Latham

A perfect pair of Christmas Romances. 

 

8. Saving the CEO by Jenny Holiday

 

Charming and sexy. 

 

9. SATED: #3 in the Fit Trilogy by Rebekah Weatherspoon

 

Fun. Hot. I love this author. 

 

10. Dukes Prefer Blondes by Loretta Chase

 

5 Star. Historical Romance doesn't get any better than this. 

 

 

 Born a slave, Mercury is an Arena Dog, genetically engineered to fight and die in the Arena for the entertainment of others. Trained as a gladiator from boyhood in a violent world, where men must form alliances and share what little bounty they have to survive, his only goal has been to keep his men alive. But two are dead and the rest are condemned to be hunted down and killed for sport. Worse, their demise will leave a woman Mercury has sworn to protect, alone and vulnerable. And then there is Samantha—a courageous human he has no right to claim. But she is his. He feels it deep in his soul and with an ache in his body he can’t deny.

Samantha Devlin is an indie-freight pilot who has lost everything: her ship, her crew, and her father. When an old friend hires her as an emergency replacement to pilot a cargo carrier for the Roma Company, she’s shocked to learn her cargo is three, living, breathing, and dangerously sexy Arena Dogs. When Samantha learns she’s taking the men to their deaths, she must decide if she is willing to risking everything for a man whose customs require that he share her with one of his men and demands he return to Roma to protect another woman. Mercury, their leader, and Lo, his emotionally broken arena-brother, challenge all her notions of honor, loyalty, and love. Her heart tells her Mercury is worth any cost, but her head sees nothing ahead but disaster.

 

 Review

 

I stayed up way too late last night finishing this book. Yea! Book drunk!

 

The writing is crisp and the characters have all little details that make them real. We get a complex science fiction universe that I can't wait to keep exploring.

 

The heroine is moral and brave. The hero is the same. They are both shaped by their pasts in away that makes them nuanced. There is a secondary romance that blooms because of the polygamous nature of the hero's culture that is very well done.

 

It is a sexy book with lots of action and plot twists. The heroine is a little slow on the uptake with a few things that I would have liked to see her work out before they became critical rather than after and there is the near rape that occurs in many books of this genre but overall so good.

 

Waiting impatiently for the next book in the series. Hurry!

 GR Cleanup Read in Aug 2011

 

This is small chapbook containing two tales filled with grue and gothy goodness.

Immortality by Charlee Jacob was my favorite of the two. It gets four stars. I thought it was genuinely creepy and it kept taking turns that I didn’t anticipate. That coupled with the fact that it was set in a travelling circus-like atmosphere and is about a family with deep dark secrets is a win/win for me.

Mihail was raised, along with his many siblings, to take his place in their acrobatic show and grew up listening to his grandmother’s dark tales which fascinated him. Because of her stories, he develops an insatiable lust to become immortal and as he grows becomes dangerously unhinged. I enjoy stories that feature unstable characters because you never quite know exactly what’s real and what’s imagined and this one worked for me. I’m going to have to look up more from this author because her writing style hooked me.

Growing Out of It by Mehitobel Wilson is about Ted who is the type of guy, though nearly 30, still acts as if he’s 20. He parties like there’s no tomorrow, goes clubbing on goth night, moans and groans over the breakup of his old band and he works in a Laundromat dispensing change and detergent. But he’s not twenty anymore and he just isn’t recovering from his drunken binges like he used to. Lately weird things have been going on with his body piercings and his memory and he’s got an itch that he just can’t ditch.

This story gets 3 starts because it features a Peter Pan type with a rotten personality who I didn’t find very likable. When the awful body horror happens, described in glorious detail, it made me happy. I wonder what that says about me?